Movie Review: ‘Four Weddings and a Funeral’ remains amusingly magical

An original yet universal plot... an overnight star... enduring charm... “Four Weddings and a Funeral” checks a lot of the boxes that keeps a movie hugely popular over time.

Director Mike Newell’s British 1994 comedy — which MGM+ presents Friday, March 29 — opened a cottage industry of such films. Many of them have continued to involve writer and eventual director Richard Curtis, who used his own nuptials-attending experiences to weave the story of seemingly eternal bachelor Charles and his close group of friends and acquaintances (and their respective love lives).

The casting of Charles is key, since it’s hard if not impossible to imagine “Four Weddings and a Funeral” without Hugh Grant. He had done a number of period dramas in which he didn’t necessarily stand out, but the boyish vulnerability he brought to this role made all the difference. It also kept serving him well in other projects, including the Curtis-generated “Notting Hill” and “Love Actually.”

Charles and his immediate group attend weddings quite regularly, and at one, he meets an alluring American named Carrie (Andie MacDowell). By the time their encounter is over and she has to return to the U.S., they’ve gotten to know each other quite intimately. They’re destined to cross paths again — and again — and when they do, surprises will be in store.

That relationship is central to “Four Weddings and a Funeral,” tying together what essentially are long vignettes, each focused on one of the title occasions. However, Newell and Curtis are smart to give ample time as well to a marvelous array of supporting players who all have their moments in the course of the picture.