Friday, April 4, 2008

acceptance Speech



No no this not going to be another ordinary youtube song video entry hahaha!!!! You are dead wrong so read on...

When I watch love movies there seems to be an unmistakeable pattern among many of them. There always seems to be an inspirational movie or song which "burdens" the main character. From "Sleepless in Seattle" to "Must Love Dogs" to "A Lot like Love," this incongruous characteristic is present in all of these movies.

But why am I talking about this when I should be talking about one of the most poignant movie moments in my life which was why I wrote this entry? The clip never fails to leave me in tears when I watch it. And the character who delivers in this part of the script delivered really well!

There is a point in the closing scenes of "My Bestfriend's Wedding" (Julia Roberts as Julianne Potter, Dermot Mulroney as Michael O'Neal, Cameron Diaz as Kimberly Wallace) where Julianne makes her bridesmaid speech during Michael and Kimberly's wedding reception. The last words of her speech were:

"I didn't get you a gift. However, this is on loan. Until you two find your song..."

And then the band strikes up to play the song, "The Way You Look Tonight." And Julianne looks into Michael's eyes. And tears well from Michael's eyes as he stares at Julianne.....isn't it quite the tearjerker??????????

Now for you cinephiles, you do remember that earlier in the movie Michael sang this song to Julianne when they were on a nostalgic boat cruise. This had been their official bestfriend theme song for a long time and he had sung it as a gesture towards reminiscing their buddy days of late nights of partying and studying and all the stuff that best buds do....

The final words of Julianne's wonderful wishes to the husband and wife was one of the most significant moments of the movie because she finally let go of the battle of winning back Michael's love. Earlier in the film she had plotted, connived and ranted about trying to sweep her bestfriend off his feet because she finally realized that after so many years of friendship she really loved him. She could not accept that for so many years she was the woman of his life and all of a sudden she is ushered into Chicago for his wedding to a different lady. She knew she could not let this happen and that HER reality was she should be the one walking that aisle to say "I do" at the end of the ceremony. But she knew this was too late because when her this enlightenment came to her, he had given his heart to another woman, Kimberly.

The final speech was her white flag of acceptance to the immutability that Michael was totally head over heels with Kimberly and could only ever offer his friendship to her. There was only room for one woman in his heart and although he did love Julianne to bits it was only as his perennial bestfriend. She knew she had lost the fight but in the end we all know that the fight was really all about saying goodbye to her bestfriend and wishing him well on his wedding day and NOT snatching him away in some whirlwind romance heroistic plot. So she did win it, didn't she?

It may not have been a happy ending but in many ways it really was. This is one of those movies with unconventional endings and thats why I love it to bits and pieces. I have probably worn out watching over and over the pirated version of this fantastic movie but I do not really care because near the end of the film I know I would come upon that magical moment which is what this entry is all about and I know that tears will be inevitable. :)


2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I've never watched that movie, but after reading you're description, I'm going to watch it. It's lovely that Julianne was able to ignore her own desires and wish Michael and Kimberly happiness in their life together.
John

Anonymous said...

Liisa,

I really appreciate the person who you are that shares so much of herself on this blog. An array of topics and pictures, I thank you for the time and effort you put into this venture.

Peter