My Best Friend's Wedding...10 years after

From our Yangmingshan trip, Jade slept until I woke her up before 8pm so she could have dinner. Dennis turned on the TV and we saw that the movie feature is just about to start. Realizing it was “My Best Friend’s Wedding”, I told him I wanted to watch it because I haven’t seen if for a long time already. So we all sat in the sala, with Jade in our midst, and watched. Jade danced with the “Wishin’ and Hopin’” song as the movie’s introductory soundtrack. In the middle of the movie, Jade pulled us to the bedroom signalling us she wanted to sleep already. I asked Dennis if he could put Jade to sleep as I wanted to finish the movie but he told me he wanted to finish it too. We all headed up to the bedroom, turn off the light but didn’t go to sleep yet. Instead, we turned on the small TV in the room and continued to watch. I attempted to put Jade into sleep but she waited until the movie ended.

I first watched MBFW sometime between October and November of 1997… yes, that was 10 years ago. I watched it with my good friends while we were in Manila for the board exams review. I still remember that the moviehouse was jampacked so we had to squeeze ourselves until we reached the front with the screen right infront of us. I guess we seated on the floor. Since we were younger then, the movie really attracted us. But then I realized, until today, after 10 years, the “kilig” effect is still there. I don’t know about my husband’s reaction but I saw that he also enjoyed it.

The story is about two friends who made a pact that if they reach 28 and still haven’t got their partners, they will end up together. The girl was unattached seemingly waiting for the boy to propose but unfortunately figured out that the boy is already engaged and is about to get married 4 days after she knew it. So she had to make a way to stop the wedding.

Here are two versions of the movie plot from tvguide and wikipedia.

As her 28th birthday approaches, perpetually noncommittal food critic Julianne (Julia Roberts) is haunted by the deal she made with best-buddy Michael (Dermot Mulroney), who's always carried a torch for her: They vowed that if neither had married by the age of 28, he'd propose. But when the dreaded phone call comes, it's worse than she had imagined: Michael has fallen in love with someone else. And worse still, this perfect being (Cameron Diaz) is blonde, younger, richer and more good-natured than Julianne. Though atypical in that our gal is forced to fight for her man by any means necessary, this Roberts vehicle is still a first-class showcase for her blinding smile, cascading locks and amiably klutzy mannerisms. But its revelations are Diaz and Rupert Everett, who plays Roberts' boss: Her Kimmy, all insouciance and honest ditziness, is enough to make a frat boy's knees go weak, while he -- the exceedingly suave and witty voice of reason -- gives a modern spin to the classic role of romantic confidant. Every time Everett walks into frame, you can't help but think how much better a movie this would be if there were only more of him in it. This amiable comedy may not be hugely sophisticated, but Hogan does manage to make his attractive leads look like complete idiots, no mean achievement in image-obsessed Hollywood.

Julianne heads to Chicago intent on sabotaging Michael's wedding to the perky Kimberly 'Kimmy' Wallace (Diaz). Soon after Julianne's arrival in Chicago, and after Michael has introduced her to his fiancee Kimberly, Kimmy puts Jules on the spot, in the presence of Jules' best friend Michael, to be Kimmy's maid of honor, so Jules consents, which establishes a comical Hyde/Jekyll scenario for Julianne, who on the one hand, has to appear to be true to the role of being Kimberly's dutiful maid of honor, while nevertheless secretly looking for any opportunity to sabotage Kimmy's wedding to Michael. When other ploys by Julianne fail, she concocts her own fake engagement to her gay friend George (Rupert Everett) --a surprise not only to Michael, but also to George when he hears Jules announce their supposed engagement to Michael when George and Michael meet. Julianne's schemes are sometimes blatently devious, even cruel; in one case, she manages to convince Michael that Kimberly is attempting to steer him into a career decision that he doesn't want to take.

After one scheme after another has failed, Julianne finally confesses to Michael that she is in love with him, but it is truly not meant to be, and Michael does end up marrying his fiancee Kimberly. Two notable differences from most romantic comedies, are that the heroine and hero do not end up together, and that the main character, Julianne is, by her own eventual tearful admission, the "bad guy." Fortunately, everyone is forgiven in the end, and Jules contentedly dances with George at the wedding reception of Kimmy and Michael.

I remember now that all of my girlfriends who watched the movie with me had purple motif on their weddings. In the movie, purple was the wedding’s motif. Coincidence, errr…

I know KGF even bought the movie’s soundtrack in a casette form – CD’s were’nt in yet at that time.