Directed by Mike Newell. Starring Hugh Grant, Andie MacDowell, Kristin Scott Thomas, Simon Callow, James Fleet, John Hannah, David Bower, Charlotte Coleman, Rowan Atkinson.

Four Weddings and a Funeral is the story of Charles - witty and charming, but at the age of 32, increasingly looking like a serial monogamist. His life has been full of girlfriends he adores, but he just cannot commit to them. He's a man so disengaged from his own heart and so trapped, that he can't truly express his feelings. The more weddings he and his friends go to, the less they want to get married themselves.

Until one particular Saturday, in one particular church, where Charles sees Carrie - the most unusual, beautiful, sharp-witted and elusive American girl he's ever encountered. Charles tries hard not to pursue her and very hard not to fall in love with her - through 1 funeral and 3 more weddings - one of which is, very awkwardly, hers. He then finds himself standing in a cathedral on his own wedding day, and at last he absolutely and totally knows who he wants to spend the rest of his life with - unfortunately it's not the woman standing next to him in the big white dress.

Released in March of 1994 to little fanfare, but through positive words of mouth and praises from critics who actually went to see it, the film went on to a wider distribution and continued to gather surprising momentum, all the way to the biggest invitation -- a Best Picture nomination. The film catapulted the careers of Hugh Grant and Kristin Scott Thomas, and for a while, Grant was the heartthrob in Hollywood with a leading man role in Nine Months and a script written especially with him in mind by Emma Thompson for Sense and Sensibility, but that fame soon came screeching to a halt in Hollywood Boulevard. There caught with him in the car was a prostitute and the media frenzy was unrelentless. Female audience had second thought and guys around the world couldn't believe he cheated on his girlfriend, not that we have high moral, but the girlfriend is supermodel and super gorgeous Elizabeth Hurley. Doh! He hasn't made a movie since '96, but that's about to change as Grant will appear in two films due out this year, and could perhaps resurrect his career.

As for Kristin Scott Thomas, she is now regarded as one of the most prominent actress in Hollywood, appearing in such critically acclaimed films as Angels & Insects and The English Patient, which garnered her a nomination for Best Actress. She also starred opposite of Robert Redford in The Horse Whisperer, and no doubt her star will continue to shine bright in the upcoming film Random Hearts with Harrison Ford, and directed by Sydney Pollack.

Alrighty, now that I've given you the Inside Edition that has nothing to do with the film, let's move on to the transfer. Having also owned the laserdisc version, I can say this is an instance where the DVD does not measure up. Whereas the laserdisc version offers a more natural color, the DVD transfer exhibits colors that are over saturated with an orangish hue on fleshtones. Images are sharp, but blacks are too stark which take away the shadow details. There are no noticeable compression artifacts, but the print does contain some dirts. As one of the first few DVD titles available during the format's inception, some players might have a slight trouble decoding the disc. When I turned on the French subtitles, it would only appear when Charles communicates with his deaf brother through sign language. When I switched off, the subtitles still appears, only when I ejected and replay the disc did the subtitles agreed to go away. During the theatrical release, the film was presented at the widescreen ratio of 1.66:1, but the DVD is soft matted closer to 1.85:1 and includes a pan and scan version. A full screen trailer and a music video of "Love Is All Around" performed by Wet Wet Wet make up the bonus features.

The encoded Dolby Surround also proves to be less fuller than the laserdisc. The nature of the film does not lend for a showy soundtrack, but the rain and thunders in the end are more dramatically projected on the laserdisc, whereas the DVD sounds confined with no surround envelopment. The soundstage is limited to the front channels with little panning through the right and left outputs. Dialogue and the delightful selection of songs sound thin and are poorly integrated.

Four Weddings and a Funeral has endeared to me over the years and I consider the film to be among my all-time favorite romantic-comedy. It is a film that easily lift me up through its optimism without the superficial saccharinity, but through a colorful cast of characters that provides earnest laughs and few moments of introspection in their search for a lifetime partner. Which hopefully will not result in the "awfully wedded wife."