Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #19922 in DVD
• Released on: 2007-04-02
• Rating: Suitable for 18 years and over
• Format: PAL
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 95 minutes

DVD Description

From the award winning writers Irvine Welsh ("Trainspotting") and Dean Cavanagh ("Sympathy for the Devil"; "Babylon Heights"; "Dose"), Wedding Belles is a darkly humorous look at the lives and loves of four modern women, each with their own remarkable, intriguing and often tragic stories. Lifelong friends Shaz, Rhona and Kelly prepare to throw their friend Amanda the wedding of the year. Amanda is to marry her gorgeous fiancé Joshua, an airline pilot with a very dark secret. But as the special day draws nearer, panic sets in and the four twenty-somethings find their lives turned upside down by the hysteria of the impending celebration. Michelle Gomez, Shirley Henderson, Kathleen McDermott and Shauna Macdonald star in this Scottish film directed by Philip John ("Murphy’s Law").

Synopsis
Lifelong friends Shaz, Rhona, and Kelly prepare to throw their mutual friends Amanda and Joshua the wedding of the year. But as the special day draws near, panic sets in and they find their lives turned upside down by the impending celebration. British comedy from the director of MURPHY’S LAW.

Customer Reviews

The Female Trainspotting! Ten Years After...
From the multi-award-winning Irvine Welsh (Trainspotting) and Dean Cavanagh(Sympathy for the Devil, Babylon Heights, Dose), Wedding Belles is a darkly humorous look at the lives and loves of four modern women, each with their own remarkable, intriguing and often tragic stories.

Wedding Belles is Welsh and Cavanagh's first TV comedy film and features the cream of British acting talent. It tells the story of four late twentysomething women; Amanda (Michelle Gomez), Shaz (Kathleen McDermott), Rhona (Shauna MacDonald) and Kelly (Shirley Henderson) as they prepare for Leith's wedding of the year. But as the wedding draws nearer, their lives are thrown into turmoil with a series of hilarious, shocking and heartbreaking revelations.

Amanda's agenda is simple; she wants to tie the knot to her gorgeous pilot fiancé Joshua (Jonathon Owen) in a lavish ceremony to rival the Beckhams. However, she will soon discover that Joshua isn't her knight in shining armour as she once thought. Following the childhood friends over five days, they soon realise that Amanda isn't the only one who will unearth a dark secret.

Each of the friends has their own agenda; from troubled relationships to foot in mouth disease, drug dependency to selling black-market Viagra to the elderly, all four women are desperate to keep their secrets a secret. As their lives start to unravel, they take a trip down memory lane and they all begin to realise that the past is exactly that and it's time to move on and grow up. But as the wedding draws nearer, their lives are thrown into turmoil with a series of hilarious, shocking and heartbreaking revelations. They have raved, loved and caroused hard, but are now ready to tackle adulthood head-on -or so they thought.

The release features a wealth of exclusive DVD extras, including Deleted Scenes, interviews with Shauna MacDonald, Michelle Gomez, Shirley Henderson, Kathleen McDermott, writers Dean Cavanagh and Irvine Welsh and director Phil John, plus a behind-the-scenes featurette revealing how the film was made.

The soundtrack features Queens of The Stone Age, PJ Harvey, The Blind Boys of Alabama, The Bees, Lonnie Donegan and Irma Thomas.

IRVINE WELSH AT HIS BEST !!!!
I watched this on Channel 4 last night. What an excellent program!! Typical Irvine Welsh. In the vain of Trainspotting, the story moves between hilarious to utter despairing circumstances. The acting is superb with all 4 leading ladies giving brilliant performances. Irvine Welsh is a great writer & just as with Trainspotting this story has been expertly transfered to the screen. For anyone who likes excellently written & acted comedy drama's this is a must own!!!

Warning - This review contains a plot spoiler
If I remember anything about writing composition at primary school it's this, never use the "it was all just a dream" scenario. OK, you realise when you see Kelly fantasising about strangling her mother with her rosary that the opening sequence is just a violent fantasy or dream and you realise that there isn't enough running time left for the ending to tie up with the beginning but even so it was disappointing.

Irvine Welsh's writing reminds me of the old nursery rhyme. When he's good (Trainspotting, Glue, Porno) he's very very good but when he's bad (Ecstasy, Filth) he's awful.

So, what to make of "Wedding Belles"? There's enough classic Welsh to make it darkly funny and very watchable but..........(there's always a but.) In my opinion Welsh isn't great at portraying female characters. In his novels, they always seem "tacked on" and lacking in any depth. The four women seem too much like Renton, Sick Boy et al. in drag and I found it difficult to sympathise or relate to any of them (despite being a female, Scottish "schemie" by birth)

I would preferred to have seen this as a mini series. Looking at each character in depth. Was Rhona a druggie prior to losing her fiancé? We see a ragged poster on the scheme showing a healthy, vibrant Rhona. What happened to her? How did Shaz get together with the pervy priest? What events led to Amanda's ASBO?

If you're a fan of Irvine Welsh you probably watched this anyway and formed your own opinion. If you're not familiar with his work then, likesay, I suggest you watch "Trainspotting" instead.