Almost thirty years later, it’s here, a review of a movie probably half of you have never seen or barely heard of.
I’m not a romcom fan; I love to pretend that I am and there are definitely moments where I find comfort in the romance. Not because I ever look to these movies as inspiration, I do not, but because they seem so out of touch with my reality that I find them comforting. I experience love, but I experience love in really messy ways. I experience very human relationships, where we are two assholes trying to make it work. I’m not being cynical (she said cynically) but I’m realistic — I like believing in happy endings, but I also don’t like watching idiots and assholes getting the chance to make their dreams come true just because. I like stories about actual people.
And that is why My Best Friend’s Wedding is one of two good romcoms…the other one is that one with Mark Ruffalo and Reese Witherspoon where she’s a ghost.
My Best Friend’s Wedding stars Julia Roberts as….Juls, or Julianne. She’s a food critic who is cynical and rude and would definitely be called a pick me if she had any luck with men at all. She is put into a tough situation when her best friend/the one who got away Michael (Dermot Mulroney) tells her that he’s not only engaged, but getting married in about a week. She is then confronted with the fact that his fiancé Kimberly (Cameron Diaz) is younger, sweeter, and just the absolute perfect person. Juls goes into crisis mode and tries to sabotage the wedding and prove to Michael that she is the one he should be with. The usual rom com shennanigans ensue, with Juls being supported by the real star of the show, George, played by Rupert Everett, her best friend and editor. The thing that makes this movie standout from the rest of the romcom fodder is that Juls is a BITCH. And the movie knows it.
I don’t feel bad spoiling a movie almost as old as me, so I’ll let you know now: she doesn’t get the guy. She tries, and she gaslights, gatekeeps, girlbosses her way through countless schemes (some of which are just downright cruel), but she doesn’t win. Michael and her even flirt the ENTIRE time, sometimes in front of Kim, and she still ends up alone — a fitting ending after being a bitch the whole runtime of the film (she ends up with George as her emotional support but he’s gay, so it’s still satisfying watching a movie be like ‘your friends are sometimes better than a partner’). My mom always said Julia Roberts was very brave for playing Juls, since it meant going from being America’s Sweetheart to just playing this cruel woman. And I agree, but I also think it would be selling Juls and Julia Roberts short to just call her a villain. I forget how talented Julia Roberts is when she’s playing someone likable — she’s so talented she makes it look effortless, and so I make the assumption anyone can do it. With Juls, she has a fundamentally unlikable character, yet she’s still relatable. Julia Roberts can bring humanity to anyone, and I personally think she’s better than Streep but that’s neither here nor there. Watching her evoke laughs, tears, and genuine emotions out of me while playing a really cynical and underhanded person shows how strong she is as a performer. George is the fan favourite, with Everett’s natural charm and George’s romantic, gentle nature that help make Juls more likeable, but discounting Roberts’ natural charm and charisma for that same thing is just untrue.
This is a story for messy romantics like me — sure, the ending wraps everything up, but it’s not the usual romcom fare. Essentially the other woman, who is actual not the other woman but for the film’s purpose she is, gets the man. Our protagonist ends up alone and sort of learns a lesson, but she also just kind of loses. I think that’s why when I think back to all the romcoms I ever watched with my grandmother, this is the one that really sticks out. It’s different, it’s funny, it’s very relatable and I think it’s aged like fine wine (except for all the smoking in restaurants). There is something so very timeless about My Best Friend’s Wedding that is why I keep coming back to it even twenty years later, and why I think it’s the very best of rom coms out there.
And you can’t go wrong when Rupert Everett leads a sing along at brunch. Like you just cannot beat that scene.