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Starring Julia Roberts. Had I know that this film was, in actuality, a musical starring Julia Roberts, whose character's definition of "best friend" was tenuous at best, I think I may have enjoyed it more than I did. However, as it stood, this film felt a little forced; surprise musicals are received by this critic in much the same vein as surprise skin cancer.Roberts stars in My Best Friend's Wedding as Julianne, a food critic for a New York City newspaper. Out of the blue, Roberts learns that her best friend, sportswriter Dermot Mulroney-whom she hasn't talked to in a couple of months-is engaged to marry a 20 year old, University of Chicago student, played by Cameron Diaz. Mulroney calls Roberts to invite her to Chicago to be in the wedding, and, suddenly, Roberts realizes that she loves Mulroney-whom she hasn't talked to in a couple of months. She flies to Chicago and, with the help of her gay editor, Rupert Everett, attempts to cause an irreperable split between the soon-to-be-married couple. One element that I have always felt spelled disaster for a romantic comedy is the presence of an unlikable or flagrantly selfish and self-absorbed lead. Unfortunately, with Roberts' character intently focusing on how she can break up Mulroney and Diaz, for purposes of her own personal gain at that, this is precisely what writer/director P.J. Hogan has created in My Best Friend's Wedding. In his freshman effort, Hogan wrote and directed the wonderfully off-beat Muriel's Wedding. And while there were unlikable characters in Muriel's Wedding, but Muriel herself, played by Toni Collette, was delightful, and her driving desire-to get married-not something one could construe as despicable or a character flaw. As Roberts continued to try and bring a wedge between Mulroney and Diaz, I was hoping her efforts would fail and that the couple would stay together. Had My Best Friend's Wedding been a darker comedy, a genre the talented Diaz is particularly fond of, this type of motivation for a lead character would have worked well, and could have easily produced some very comedic scenes. However, as it stands, I found myself rooting against the lead-another element that spells disaster. This was quite the opposite scenario in While You Were Sleeping, a romantic comedy where I wanted nothing more than for the two leads, Sandra Bullock and Bill Pullman to find each other. One of the most unexpected elements of My Best Friend's Wedding was Hogan's choice to include six or seven musical numbers throughout the course of the film. As was evidenced by Muriel's Wedding, Hogan is found of having characters sing on-screen, especially when they could just be talking, but here, the musical numbers often felt forced and awkward, because inserting show tunes into every possible situation just didn't seem logical. The best musical number in the film came during the opening credits, with four precosciously cute actresses lip-synching to Ani DiFranco's remake of "Wishing and Hoping", though even this became slightly disconcerting as I began to wonder just why the hell Hogan felt it was necessary to open with a music video. Everett and Mulroney bring a touch of class and sensitivity that was otherwise lacking in My Best Friend's Wedding. The Chicago scenery and several Three's Company-esque moments of assumed identity were pleasant, but one just cannot escape the disagreeable actions taken by Roberts and the forced musical numbers here. My Best Friend's Wedding is entertaining, but does not begin to compare to the sweet, warm, and charming While You Were Sleeping. Of the two "Girl Next Door Movies, Set in Chicago" see While you were Sleeping.
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