"...Missandei Does A Dracarys in
London..."
"Four Weddings And A Funeral" - The 2019 TV SHOW
Let's be realistic here – for sure Season 1 of "Four Weddings And A Funeral - The TV Series" is hardly The Marx Brothers or The Coen Brothers or any other Brothers for that matter - so I can sort of understand the 45% to middling ratings for this 2019 HULA TV show on Rotten Tomatoes and other review sites.
But frankly those mean-spirited statistics are just way too harsh. With the same warmth and wit as the original 1994 movie that made Hugh Grant a star and Andie MacDowell and Kristen Scott Thomas household names - this 2019 TV Season of 10 episodes is very, very funny in places, surprisingly touching too and sports a hugely diverse and likeable cast given damn good writing to work with (there are breakout parts in here aplenty for so many of these new faces).
For sure the clichés and pastiches come hurtling at you very early on and some of the relationships like the impossibly gorgeous Maya and the nerdy Duffy just don't convince properly (even by episode 4). But there is much else to love and be happy about here. The appearances of the original film's cast in minor roles is cleverly paced (there is a nod to passing time and character roundups from "Notting Hill" in one of the later episodes that is brilliantly done) - the gals and guys are gorgeous to look at and given real witty and serious written meat to work with as the highs and lows pile up – Dermot Mulroney is a great introduction half way through and each principal character gets to stretch out as the episodes unfold.
Filling in for the scene-stealing and life-affirming Simon Callow role in the original film is a typically brill and acidic Alex Jennings. He plays a seemingly openly gay British MP who nonetheless has commitment issues that stretch way past his personal life and into the content of speeches he needs to back up and not just make for image-beneficial-effect. The young Guz Khan and the old-hand Harish Patel provide lots of laughs and genuine warmth as the Pakistani Hounslow crew supporting the will he-won't-he become an actor ambitions of lead character Kash (Nikesh Patel) who longs to be with Maya (as does she) but neither want to hurt friends, family or tradition. Special mention should also go to Zoe Boyle as the extraordinarily prudish Gemma who is simply brilliant as a rich and sort of pointless neighbour in what could have been a very difficult role for any one to like and yet gives a speech at a funeral that left me in tears of admiration. It's deep as well as bloody good fun...
Speaking of special mentions – Sophia La Porta as the big-chested perfect teethed Essex babe with a mouth that just doesn’t know when to quit is Gemma Collins fab - lighting up the screen every time she shows up in another ridiculously tight dress (Brandon Mychal Smith plays her lucky love interest Craig and matches her blow for blow too). The "Love Chalet" episode for instance clearly based on a "Love Island" reality show episode where Craig's girlfriend starts showing her booty to the world to make her boyfriend jealous is a hoot - everyone is sleeping with everyone else - muscle-bound brain-dead types display their lack of basic English and even smaller budgie-smuggler swimming trunks while be-atches in bikinis complain about European politics and nail polish (these are people we've actually seen on tele in the last few years). And once again Game of Thrones' Natalie Emmanuel (Maya) and The Mindy Project's Rebecca Rittenhouse (Ainsley) look so ludicrously beautiful all the time in a vast array of cool outfits that its hard to imagine any man could concentrate around them let alone converse with such obvious goddesses. And on it goes through ups and downs.
With Richard Curtis as an Executive Producer, great locations in London used and a boozy Saturday night sense of fun - "Four Weddings And A Funeral - The TV Series" is exactly the kind of Seasonal Cheer your drag-January needs. And I was kind of gutted when it ended. Dig in and enjoy...
But frankly those mean-spirited statistics are just way too harsh. With the same warmth and wit as the original 1994 movie that made Hugh Grant a star and Andie MacDowell and Kristen Scott Thomas household names - this 2019 TV Season of 10 episodes is very, very funny in places, surprisingly touching too and sports a hugely diverse and likeable cast given damn good writing to work with (there are breakout parts in here aplenty for so many of these new faces).
For sure the clichés and pastiches come hurtling at you very early on and some of the relationships like the impossibly gorgeous Maya and the nerdy Duffy just don't convince properly (even by episode 4). But there is much else to love and be happy about here. The appearances of the original film's cast in minor roles is cleverly paced (there is a nod to passing time and character roundups from "Notting Hill" in one of the later episodes that is brilliantly done) - the gals and guys are gorgeous to look at and given real witty and serious written meat to work with as the highs and lows pile up – Dermot Mulroney is a great introduction half way through and each principal character gets to stretch out as the episodes unfold.
Filling in for the scene-stealing and life-affirming Simon Callow role in the original film is a typically brill and acidic Alex Jennings. He plays a seemingly openly gay British MP who nonetheless has commitment issues that stretch way past his personal life and into the content of speeches he needs to back up and not just make for image-beneficial-effect. The young Guz Khan and the old-hand Harish Patel provide lots of laughs and genuine warmth as the Pakistani Hounslow crew supporting the will he-won't-he become an actor ambitions of lead character Kash (Nikesh Patel) who longs to be with Maya (as does she) but neither want to hurt friends, family or tradition. Special mention should also go to Zoe Boyle as the extraordinarily prudish Gemma who is simply brilliant as a rich and sort of pointless neighbour in what could have been a very difficult role for any one to like and yet gives a speech at a funeral that left me in tears of admiration. It's deep as well as bloody good fun...
Speaking of special mentions – Sophia La Porta as the big-chested perfect teethed Essex babe with a mouth that just doesn’t know when to quit is Gemma Collins fab - lighting up the screen every time she shows up in another ridiculously tight dress (Brandon Mychal Smith plays her lucky love interest Craig and matches her blow for blow too). The "Love Chalet" episode for instance clearly based on a "Love Island" reality show episode where Craig's girlfriend starts showing her booty to the world to make her boyfriend jealous is a hoot - everyone is sleeping with everyone else - muscle-bound brain-dead types display their lack of basic English and even smaller budgie-smuggler swimming trunks while be-atches in bikinis complain about European politics and nail polish (these are people we've actually seen on tele in the last few years). And once again Game of Thrones' Natalie Emmanuel (Maya) and The Mindy Project's Rebecca Rittenhouse (Ainsley) look so ludicrously beautiful all the time in a vast array of cool outfits that its hard to imagine any man could concentrate around them let alone converse with such obvious goddesses. And on it goes through ups and downs.
With Richard Curtis as an Executive Producer, great locations in London used and a boozy Saturday night sense of fun - "Four Weddings And A Funeral - The TV Series" is exactly the kind of Seasonal Cheer your drag-January needs. And I was kind of gutted when it ended. Dig in and enjoy...
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