This movie is brilliant, funny, charming, witty, touching. It has two problems, both of them related to the lead female character, Carrie (played by Andie MacDowell).
The first is that the character is not written to be at all likeable. She is engaged to a rich older man she clearly doesn't really love (I think we're supposed to infer that she's a golddigger) and cheats on him with someone she doesn't really care about either (Hugh Grant). Later we learn that she's a slut and a homewrecker (see her appearance at wedding #4--don't tell me it wasn't conniving!). What would make us want this woman to win our beloved Charlie (Hugh Grant) (who is also something of a cad, but a loveable one)?
Carrie might not have been so unpalatable if they'd found an actress who could actually ACT to play her, but instead, they hired Andie MacDowell, who may be pretty, but is as stiff and lifeless as the scenery. Maybe she thinks that's what's called for in a British movie. I wonder that the people casting movies haven't realized that Andie MacDowell simply plays the same character in every movie she's in. By the end of this film, you're incredibly frustrated. You want to adore this movie, because everything about it is so perfect, except for the fact that you hate Andie MacDowell' s character with a passion and wish that she would die so that Charlie could find happiness with a woman who can act.
The first is that the character is not written to be at all likeable. She is engaged to a rich older man she clearly doesn't really love (I think we're supposed to infer that she's a golddigger) and cheats on him with someone she doesn't really care about either (Hugh Grant). Later we learn that she's a slut and a homewrecker (see her appearance at wedding #4--don't tell me it wasn't conniving!). What would make us want this woman to win our beloved Charlie (Hugh Grant) (who is also something of a cad, but a loveable one)?
Carrie might not have been so unpalatable if they'd found an actress who could actually ACT to play her, but instead, they hired Andie MacDowell, who may be pretty, but is as stiff and lifeless as the scenery. Maybe she thinks that's what's called for in a British movie. I wonder that the people casting movies haven't realized that Andie MacDowell simply plays the same character in every movie she's in. By the end of this film, you're incredibly frustrated. You want to adore this movie, because everything about it is so perfect, except for the fact that you hate Andie MacDowell' s character with a passion and wish that she would die so that Charlie could find happiness with a woman who can act.