“Four Weddings and a Funeral” (1994) is one of my favorite movies of all time. The accents, the banter, the exquisitely ridiculous situations. Sure Andie MacDowell was a weak point. But other than her the performances were perfect—Hugh Grant, Simon Callow, … even the actors inteh small roles were perfect
So, some of the podcasts I listen to started to promote a reboot as a TV series—with executive producer Mindy Kaling, and starring Nathalie Emmanuel (Missandei from “Game of Thrones”).
Boy, does it suck hard. Every plot point is telegraphed far in advanced. The dialogue is lame and mechanically delivered. Not one of the jokes is funny or delivered well. It’s paced like a 10-hour long music video, with the character development being entirely on the most superficial level possible.
The performances suck, but I don’t blame the actors. They’re doing the best they can with the terrible script and dialogue.
Out of a sense of obligation, I’m probably going to finish the series, but … yuck.
Some of the podcasts I listen to have been heavily promoting Hulu’s new series “Four Weddings and a Funeral” (Four Weddings and a Funeral (TV Mini Series 2019) - IMDb) a sort of remake/reimagining/reboot of the 1994 Richard Curtis movie of the same name.
It stars Nathalie Emmanuel (Missandei from “Game of Thrones”) and centers on four American friends living in London and their romantic misadventures. Mindy Kaling is the executive producer.
Boy, is this show bad. The dialogue is bad, the plot is a series of predictable misadventures. Every development is telegraphed way in advance. It’s just absolutely awful.
The first episode feels like a jumbled up version of “Love, Actually,” complete with posterboard speech.
I had almost managed to forget about this show and then along comes Ascenray:dubious:
I completely agree with your critique, including the reference to *Love, Actually[/I ]and the posterboard bit. I can’t believe they attempted such a blatant ripoff.
I don’t know if it’s the actors or the characters, but with the exception of the guy that left the bride at the altar, I find all the people involved completely unappealing.
Also, why on earth would they make the main characters American?
It’s surprising that dreck such as this comes from the talented Mindy Kaling.
I don’t mind this kind of thing in theory, but it, like everything else, just seems dropped into place to remind us of something else that we might have liked.
I mean, is there a particular reason that John Reynolds (portraying Duffy) is always styled to look exactly like a grown up Harry Potter?
To me it’s not that they are unappealing, as such, but they seem to be shallow sketches entirely constructed with cliches and plot necessities. None of the characters feels like a real person.
And, of course, in the original, we as the audience are really hit hard by the funeral because it’s a character that we have grown to have genuine feelings for and have understood his importance as a member of the group. The funeral is devastating, with John Hannah’s recitation of Auden. The funeral in this series means nothing.
No idea.
Actually, I haven’t liked anything from her since about the second season of “The Mindy Project.” I think success and her obsession with the most superficial aspects of pop culture have really made her inaccessible to normal society.
I actually really hated the movie Four Weddings and a Funeral. Awful people. Unfunny situations. Oh, a “nice” character dies so we can shed a few tears. I never believed Hugh Grant and Andy McDowell as a couple. Almost as excruciating to watch as Love, Actually which I hated even more.
All to say, I’ve avoided this series like the plague.
On edit: Kristin Scott Thomas is the one with a duck face!!!
Maybe it’s just that in the first episode the actors were all still delightful and the terrible terrible horrible plot lines hadn’t gone to the worst possible conclusions and I still had faith that the show runners had a plan.
They do not. It’s terrible. Duffy is one of the most horrible characters ever written. The reality show plot line is one of the stupidest plots ever written. The secret child plot os awful. The I’m in love with my best friends ex plot is awful. The political plots go no where and are awful. The one interesting idea, rich kid gets stood up at her wedding and cut off financially and has to actually learn to live like a grown up for the first time ever… Gets dropped immediately. The death is awful.
Kash and his story are pretty good if you remove all involvement from the core group of friends. That feels like something real. It’s the only reason I’m still watching.
Agreed. Grown up Harry Potter’s decisions make zero sense.
Agreed.
Agreed.
Agreed.
Agreed.
Agreed. Notably, this plotline features a cameo by Andie MacDowell.
Awful in the sense that they failed to make me care about it.
And, just to be clear, it’s not the plot outline that’s the problem here. It’s the execution. Every character’s behavior is dictated by the demands of the plot. Nothing seems natural or arising out of the characters themselves. Every line of dialogue is a cliche that seems lifted from some other romantic comedy.
Well, of course, except for the fact of how the story line got kicked off. He falls in lust days before his wedding and doesn’t make any decisions until the officiant at his wedding him prompts him for his “I do.” That’s all plot-driven behavior, the plot driving for the absolutely most cliched melodramatic moment.
And the latest episode rips off the Portobello Market change of seasons scene from “Notting Hill,” with a Hindi-language version of “Ain’t No Sunshine” playing. This series is ripping off every English rom-com imaginable, not just ideas or concepts or plot points, but actual scenes. It’s shameful.
