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Written by Gregg Shapiro
Sep 1, 2011
Simon Callow and John Hannah portray a gay couple in Mike Newell's “Four Weddings and a Funeral.” – Photo: Courtesy
‘Four Weddings and a Funeral’
Mike Newell’s “Four Weddings and a Funeral” seemed cutting-edge when it was released in 1994. Not it just narrowly avoids feeling dated.
At the first of the movie’s four weddings, we meet the close group of friends who hold the movie together. It is at this wedding that lady-killer Charles, portrayed by Hugh Grant at his cuddly befuddled best, crosses paths with American wedding guest Carrie, played by Andie McDowell.
Charles and Carrie continue to encounter each other at weddings, including Carrie’s to Hamish (Colin Redgrave). They also have encounters in bed and at wedding-dress fittings. But their timing is disastrous and reaches its nadir when Charles is set to marry Henrietta (Anna Chancellor), and Carrie shows up at the church.
Same-sex marriage was not yet a reality when “Four Weddings and a Funeral” opened, but a gay couple – Gareth (Simon Callow) and Matthew (John Hannah) – is clearly the most “married” of the film’s pairs. That made the film seem groundbreaking at the time.
Gareth and Matthew provide much of the film’s comic relief and the most emotionally wrenching scene. Screenwriter Richard Curtis renders these two characters with sensitivity and respect – more so than some of the straight characters.
Blu-ray special features include audio commentary with filmmakers, deleted scenes, a documentary and two featurettes.
‘Jumping The Broom’
Not to be confused with “Noah’s Arc: Jumping The Broom,” the very gay Patrik-Ian Polk flick, “Jumping The Broom” is something else entirely. The first indication is that it was produced and features vehemently anti-gay preacher T.D. Jakes, which explains the unapologetic air of homophobia clouding the movie.
Bursting with caricatures, not characters, “Jumping The Broom” takes place on Martha’s Vineyard, where uptown girl Sabrina (Paula Patton) is set to marry Jason (Laz Alonso), whose working class Brooklyn family is about to upset the balance on the island.
Jason goes out of his way to prevent Sabrina from meeting his postal-worker mother (Loretta Devine, on a steady downward spiral following “For Colored Girls”) until the weekend of the wedding. How’s that for good Christian behavior?
Meanwhile, Sabrina’s family is no better. Her ice queen mother (Angela Bassett, giving one of the worst performances of her career) thinks Sabrina’s father (Brian Stokes Mitchell) is a having an affair with a white woman. In fact, he is hiding an even bigger and more devastating skeleton in the closet.
Few movies have pandered and preached as shamelessly as “Jumping The Broom” does. The only thing missing is Tyler Perry in drag.
Jakes and his ilk don’t want same-sex couples to marry. But where in the New Testament does it say, “Stay ignorant until Jesus gets back?”
DVD special features include commentary from director Salim Akil and the cast.
