Four Weddings and a Funeral

Four Weddings and a Funeral is a 1994 British romantic comedy film directed by Mike Newell. It is the first of several films by screenwriter Richard Curtis to star Hugh Grant, and follows the adventures of Charles (Grant) and his circle of friends through a number of social occasions as they each encounter romance. Andie MacDowell co-stars as Charles's love interest Carrie, with Kristin Scott Thomas, James Fleet, Simon Callow, John Hannah, Charlotte Coleman, David Bower, Corin Redgrave and Rowan Atkinson in supporting roles.

The film was made in six weeks, cost under £3 million, and became an unexpected success and the highest-grossing British film in history at the time, with a worldwide box office total of $245.7 million, and received Academy Award nominations for Best Picture and Best Original Screenplay. Additionally, Grant won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy and the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role, and the film won the BAFTA Awards' Best Film, Best Direction, and Best Actress in a Supporting Role for Kristin Scott Thomas. The film's success propelled Hugh Grant to international stardom, particularly in the United States. A 2017 poll of 150 actors, directors, writers, producers and critics for Time Out magazine ranked it the 74th-best British film ever.

Curtis reunited director Newell and the surviving cast for a 25th-anniversary reunion Comic Relief short entitled One Red Nose Day and a Wedding, which aired in the UK during Red Nose Day on 15 March 2019.

Plot

At the wedding of Angus and Laura in Somerset, the perpetually late best man Charles, his flatmate Scarlett, his aristocratic friend Fiona and her brother Tom, Gareth and his partner Matthew, and Charles's deaf brother David, all gather. All are unmarried. At the reception, Charles meets Carrie, an American woman working in England. They spend the night together. In the morning, Carrie, who is returning to the U.S., laments that they may have "missed a great opportunity".

Three months later, at the London wedding of Bernard and Lydia, Tom is the best man. At the reception, Charles runs into Carrie, who has returned to the UK. With Carrie is Hamish, her older, wealthy Scottish fiancé. Meanwhile, a pretty young woman, Serena, is attracted to David.

During the reception, Charles is humiliated by several ex-girlfriends, including the distraught Henrietta, who claims Charles is a "serial monogamist" fearful of commitment. Charles retreats to an empty hotel suite and notices Carrie and Hamish departing by taxi, though Carrie returns to the reception shortly after; she and Charles spend a second night together.

A month later, Charles receives an invitation to Carrie and Hamish's wedding. Charles runs into Carrie while searching for a wedding gift. He then helps Carrie choose a wedding dress. After, Charles awkwardly confesses he loves her, which Carrie gently rebuffs.

A month later, Charles and his friends attend Carrie and Hamish's wedding. Scarlett meets Chester, a Texan, at the reception. Henrietta introduces her new boyfriend to Charles. Fiona, aware of Charles's unhappiness over Carrie, admits she loves him. Charles, though sympathetic, does not reciprocate her feelings. During Hamish's speech, Gareth suffers a fatal heart attack.

At Gareth's funeral, Matthew delivers a heartfelt farewell to his love by reciting W. H. Auden's "Funeral Blues". Carrie and Charles share a brief moment, while Charles and Tom then ponder that, despite their clique's pride in being single, Gareth and Matthew were like a married couple. They wonder whether seeking "one true love" is futile.

Ten months later, it is Charles and Henrietta's wedding. While seating guests, Tom meets his distant cousin, Deirdre, whom he has not seen since childhood; they are immediately smitten with each other. Scarlett and Chester are overjoyed to meet again.

Carrie arrives and tells Charles that she and Hamish have separated following a difficult marriage. Charles has an emotional crisis inside the church's back room. After David and Matthew counsel him, Charles decides to proceed with the ceremony. When the vicar asks whether anyone has a reason why the couple should not marry, David uses British Sign Language to say the groom has doubts and loves someone else. After Charles confirms this, a furious Henrietta punches him at the altar, knocking him out and ending the ceremony.

Later at his flat, Charles and the group are discussing the fiasco when Carrie arrives to apologise for causing trouble. Charles again says he loves her and proposes a lifelong commitment without marriage, which Carrie accepts. As they kiss, a thunderbolt flashes across the sky.

In an ending photo montage, Henrietta has married an Army officer; David married Serena; Scarlett has married Chester, the Texan; Tom married Deirdre; Matthew has found a new partner; Fiona is with Prince Charles; and Charles and Carrie have had their first child.

Cast

Production

Writing

Screenwriter Richard Curtis's own experiences as a wedding attendee inspired Four Weddings and a Funeral. According to Curtis, he began writing the script at age 34, after realising he had attended 65 weddings in an 11-year period. At one wedding, he was propositioned by a fellow guest, but he turned her down and forever regretted it; accordingly, he based the origin of Charles and Carrie's romance on that situation. He has commented on director Mike Newell's influence; "I come from a school where making it funny is what matters. Mike was obsessed with keeping it real. Every character, no matter how small, has a story, not just three funny lines. It's a romantic film about love and friendship that swims in a sea of jokes."

Curtis chose to omit any mention of the characters' careers, because he did not think a group of friends would realistically discuss their jobs while together at a wedding. Jennings would eventually go on to play a supporting role in Mindy Kaling's 2019 television miniseries adaptation of the film. The team continued holding auditions for over a year, seeing roughly 70 actors for the role of Charles before Hugh Grant.

Grant was ready to give up acting as a career when he received the script for Four Weddings and a Funeral; he stated in 2016 that: "I wasn't really getting any work at all, and then to my great surprise this script came through the letterbox from my agent, and it was really good. And I rang on and said there must be a mistake, you've sent me a good script." Initially, writer Richard Curtis, who had modelled the character of Charles after himself, was opposed to casting Grant in the role, because he thought Grant was too handsome. Curtis favoured casting Alan Rickman, but Rickman refused to audition. Curtis was eventually persuaded by Newell and the producers to approve Grant's casting.

Jeanne Tripplehorn was originally cast as Carrie, but she had to drop out before filming when her mother died. The role was offered to Marisa Tomei, but she turned it down because her grandfather was sick at the time. Sarah Jessica Parker was also reportedly considered. Andie MacDowell was in London doing publicity for Groundhog Day when she read the script and was subsequently cast.

Grant's participation hit another stumbling block when his agent requested a £5,000 rise over the £35,000 salary Grant was offered. The producers initially refused because of the extremely tight budget, but eventually agreed. The supporting cast members were paid £17,500 apiece.

Production

Duncan Kenworthy produced the film while on sabbatical from Jim Henson Productions. Grant was encouraged by director Mike Newell to mess up and trip over his lines, written in "convoluted syntax" as Grant describes them, in order to give Charles a stammering, nervous quality. Exterior shots of guests arriving for the funeral were filmed in Thurrock, Essex, overlooking the River Thames with the backdrop of the Dartford River Crossing and the Queen Elizabeth II Bridge.

Stately homes in Bedfordshire (Luton Hoo for the wedding two's reception) and Hampshire provided exteriors for weddings.

Post-production

According to Hugh Grant, the initial screening of a rough cut of Four Weddings went very badly.