Great Australian Movies– Also on DVD– Muriel's Wedding (1994)

I recently watched a great Toni Collette movie, "In Her Shoes", with Cameron Diaz.  It started me thinking about Toni Collette’s earlier work, namely the great Australian film Muriel’s Wedding.

Muriel's Wedding is set in the town of Porpoise Spit, Australia. This tragic comedy centres around Muriel (Toni Collette), an ugly-duckling character, and her one motivation in life---to get married. Her motivation arises from the fact that all of her friends from high-school, the “cool kids”, are walking up the aisle. We follow Muriel though a journey of self-discovery, as she moves to Sydney, traipses from Wedding Boutique to Wedding Boutique, and finally changes her name (to Mariel) and gets engaged.

However, all is not what it seems for poor Murial.  The reality of Muriel’s life presents a harsh picture of suburban Australia with the character set epitomizing what is perceived as tragic normality.
 
The movie does present some great lines with classics such as “You’re terrible Muriel”, “Don’t chuck me out of the group guys”, “Deidre Chambers, what a co-incidence”, "Mum, the Federal Police are here", "You can't stop progress" and “people invite us places cause they just know we’re going to have a good time”.

Directed and Written by P J Hogan, Muriel’s Wedding has a great cast who really make the movie:

Cast overview, first billed only: 
Sophie Lee ....  Tania Degano
Rosalind Hammond....  Cheryl
Toni Collette ....  Muriel Heslop/Mariel Heslop-Van Arckle
Belinda Jarrett....  Janine
Pippa Grandison ....  Nicole
Bill Hunter....  Bill Heslop
Jeanie Drynan ....  Betty Heslop
Daniel Wyllie....  Perry Heslop
Gabby Millgate ....  Joanie Heslop
Gennie Nevinson ....  Deidre Chambers
Rachel Griffiths ....  Rhonda Epinstalk
Matt Day ....  Brice Nobes
Chris Haywood ....  Coach Ken Blundell
Daniel Lapaine ....  David Van Arckle
Susan Prior ....  Girl at wedding