Taglines: Success is the best revenge.
Muriel s Wedding movie storyline. Living in Porpoise Spit, Australia, twenty-two year old Muriel Heslop is a socially awkward (she unfashionably and unabashedly listens to ABBA music), slightly overweight, directionless woman with few life or professional skills. Her lack of self-esteem is fostered by the constant verbal abuse directed at her – and at her siblings – by their politician father, who blames whatever political problems he has on his family, who he deems to be a public embarrassment to him. Muriel’s self-esteem takes a further blow when her so-called friends – the popular girls from high school – exclude her from their social circle. Muriel resorts to theft to make herself happy.
Her life changes when she runs into another colleague from high school, Rhonda Epinstock. Also not in the popular social circle in high school, Rhonda is now a gregarious, carefree girl who can see Muriel’s desire for an equally carefree life. The two move to Sydney together. Out from under the direct criticism of her father, Muriel feels that she can now put behind her all the problems of “Muriel Heslop”, even changing her name to Mariel to escape those problems.
She also feels she can now achieve true happiness, her primary goal being to get married. Despite continuing problems with her family and a new serious issue with Rhonda, Muriel seizes on what she sees as an opportunity to achieve her primary goal. But a further issue with her family makes Muriel finally come to the realization of what is truly important in her life.
Muriel’s Wedding is a 1994 Australian comedy-drama film written and directed by P. J. Hogan. The film, which stars actors Toni Collette, Rachel Griffiths, Jeanie Drynan, Sophie Lee, and Bill Hunter, focuses on the socially awkward Muriel whose ambition is to have a glamorous wedding and improve her personal life by moving from her dead-end home town, the fictional Porpoise Spit, to Sydney. The film received multiple award nominations, including a Golden Globe Award nomination for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy (Toni Collette).
Muriel’s Wedding grossed $15,765,571 at the box office in Australia. The film premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in September 1994 and opened in Australia the following month. It earned US$244,969 on 14 screens in its opening weekend in the US and eventually grossed US$15,119,639 in the United States.
Muriel s Wedding (1995)
Directed by: P. J. Hogan
Starring: Toni Collette, Rachel Griffiths, Bill Hunter, Belinda Jarrett, Jeanie Drynan, Pippa Grandison, Gabby Millgate, Chris Haywood, Susan Prior
Screenplay by: P. J. Hogan
Production Design by: Paddy Reardon
Cinematography by: Martin McGrath
Film Editing by: Jill Bilcock
Costume Design by: Terry Ryan
Set Decoration by: Glen W. Johnson, Jane Murphy
Art Direction by: Hugh Bateup
Music by: Peter Best
MPAA Rating: R for sex-related dialogue and some sexuality.
Distributed by: Miramax Films
Release Date: September 20, 1994 (Australia), March 10, 1995 (United States)
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