One-Shot Wednesday

My Best Friend's Wedding is a romantic comedy that centers on Julianne (Julia Roberts), a food critic who realizes she's in love with her longtime best friend, Michael (Dermot Mulroney). Inconveniently, Julianne figures this out only a few days before Michael’s wedding to Kimmy (Cameron Diaz). Determined to win Michael’s love, Julianne tries to sabotage the wedding.

The 1997 movie—which filmed on location all around Chicago—explores themes of love, friendship, and the complexities of unrequited feelings.

This long shot of Julianne and Kimmy takes place inside the china department in the old Marshall Field & Co. department store on State St. (the store is now owned by Macy’s). Here, Julianne tries to convince Kimmy to get her wealthy father to offer Michael a job. This, she knows, will upset Michael and lead him, presumably, to break off the wedding. Julianne's scheme fails.

A box office success in 1997, My Best Friend’s Wedding is notable for at least two reasons:

First, the movie subverts rom-com tropes. Unlike most romantic comedies, in which the protagonist ends up with the person she loves, My Best Friend's Wedding defies expectations by not having Julianne "win" Michael in the end. Instead, Michael goes through with his marriage to Kimmy, leaving Julianne to come to terms with her feelings and behavior. For a mainstream Hollywood rom-com, the conclusion is rather bittersweet.

Second, Julia Roberts plays a villain (of sorts). Considered “America’s sweetheart” at the time, Roberts does not play the typical lovable rom-com heroine in My Best Friend’s Wedding. She spends much of the film manipulating people to break up her best friend's wedding—unconventional actions not only for a protagonist in this genre, but also for Julia Roberts’ established 1990s star image.