Tanya-Anne-Francis If you are looking for a fantasy movie then this is it, base mostly in Australia this movie will take you on an adventure. A young lady loving ABBA tries to find her dream wedding, problem is she has never had a date or really good friends.she deals with love, dreams, family, heart break and friends problems a long the way,she moves to the city with her best friend to change her life, when she is in the city she has a job, a home and she finds a guy she likes but that isn't the end of it at all, she will do anything to have a dream wedding. Throughout this movie there will be lots of laughs and some tears. Personally it is one of the best 1994 movie I have seen in a while, grab your best friends this movie some food for a night of laughter.

mnpollio Uneven comedy-drama from writer-director P.J. Hogan offers some proof of Hogan's emerging talent, but never really reaches its potential due to the flat central character. Toni Collette plays Muriel, a bored dishrag from Porpoise Spit, Australia. She aimlessly spends her time listening to ABBA music and fantasizing about a wedding day that may never be, while enduring the company of her undisciplined siblings and a gaggle of catty female friends who keep her around as a verbal punching bag. Her father is an obnoxious philandering local politician who takes his family for granted and her mother is a zoned out manic depressive, who only barely seems to realize that the glamour puss cosmetic saleswoman that keeps crashing family night is her husband's mistress. After Muriel steals money from her parents to go on a vacation, she hooks up with a free-spirited old acquaintance and embarks on a journey of discovery that changes her life and might bring her the wedding day she longs for. Marketed as a comedy, the film has some funny moments, but a lot of what goes on is surprisingly somber. Many of the people that inhabit the landscape of Muriel's life are either mean-spirited and nasty or colorless victims worn down by the ordeals. The film perks up substantially with the arrival of Rachel Griffiths as the free-spirited friend, but then her character is somewhat sidelined by being stricken as a paraplegic. Director Hogan keeps things moving along and gets lots of mileage out of the ABBA soundtrack, but his shifts between drama and comedy are clumsy. Worse, the film can do nothing about the fact that its central character of Muriel is just not that interesting or worthwhile an individual. We initially have empathy for Muriel in the opening moments having to cope with her monstrous family and frenemies. Unfortunately, she spends the majority of the film floating from one misadventure to another without really gleaning much in the way of knowledge or wisdom. Following the crippling of her friend, Muriel moves on with barely a look back, leaving behind both the woman who enabled her to strike out on a new life and a nice guy who genuinely loves her. She changes her name to Mariel and finds herself the recipient of a deal to marry a hunky Olympic diver Daniel Lapaine, who needs to solidify his Australian citizenship, and gets her wedding day. Collette is normally a fine actress, but she does very little with Muriel here. She spends much of the film blank of face, as though shell-shocked at life. She does better with some of the comical moments – the scene where she bursts into joyous laughter when she gets her first glimpse of her fiancé of convenience emerging from the pool in a tiny Speedo is funny both because of her uncharacteristic reaction and Lapaine's look of terror when he realizes this is his future wife. Unfortunately, Muriel never seems to become very decisive and even the film's closing moments have her seem like a drifter. We are apparently supposed to be content that Muriel has grown as a person because she changes her name back to Muriel, tells her dad to be a better father to her siblings after her mother's suicide and returns to help Griffiths. While the latter particularly shows some promise, one cannot overlook how Muriel has treated Lapaine in this process. When Muriel's mother dies, Lapaine reveals himself to be a genuinely nice guy and stands by her in her hour of need and even starts a physical relationship with her. But when Muriel decides that she needs to change her life again, she reneges on their business deal, keeps the money and cavalierly leaves him much as she did her supporters earlier in the film. She never does re-establish contact with the other guy whose heart she broke and who keeps lingering around the edges of the film, and one cannot help but think that in another month she will decide to change her life again and abandon Griffiths for a second time. The film launched the international career of Colette and has a staunch following, but while there are highlights, some directorial promise from Hogan and some good supporting acting, the average viewer may wisely wonder why Muriel is worth much consideration.

treeline1 Living in Porpoise Spit, Australia, Muriel (Toni Collette) is fat, plain, and utterly hopeless, thanks to her father who calls her a 'useless lump.' Her only activities are listening to ABBA music and watching reruns of Princess Diana's wedding. Desperate, she takes a bold step to change her life, moving to the big city to look for love.I love this movie, which is equal parts comedy and tragedy and is definitely a chick-flick. The sparkling Ms Collette is instantly likable and I was rooting for her from the start. (She gained so much weight for the early scenes that she is almost unrecognizable before her swan-like transformation.) Muriel is passionate and sensitive and smart enough to know that a true friend is worth more than a fantasy. The supporting cast is excellent, with Bill Hunter as her horribly abusive father and Jeanie Drynan as her pathetic mother.This touching story of a young woman's search for happiness is full of life and loaded with great ABBA songs. Highly recommended.

preppy-3 Muriel (Toni Collette) is an overweight unattractive Australian girl who loves ABBA music. She hangs around with a bunch of attractive but vicious women who tell her off every chance they get. She then meets easy-going, friendly Rhonda (Rachel Griffiths) and her life begins to change.SPOILERS!!!!! Sounds like a feel-good movie--right? WRONG! This has Muriel and some likable characters go through some incredibly horrible things again and again. For instance: Rhonda is very sexually active and (for no good reason) is crippled accidentally halfway through. Why? Because she happens to enjoy sex? Muriel's mother is treated by her husband like dirt...and she takes it. Muriel's friends have got to be the most vicious group of women I've EVER seen in any movie. Muriel meets a sweet guy who really likes her--but she dumps him to marry an attractive but empty-headed jock. That's only a few things. Again and again we're hit over the head with these depressing story turns. Seriously--what's the reason? The few good moments were blotted out by the negativity. After this was over I was utterly depressed and hated the movie. This only gets a two for the acting (Collette and Griffiths are great) and the ABBA music. But this is a seriously depressing, negative film.