To the Editor:
I am writing in order to correct a number of inaccuracies in the review of "Muriel's Wedding," (Mar. 29, 1995).
To assert that Toni Collette cannot match the physical beauty of either Sarah Jessica Parker or Julia Roberts is a gross misstatement of fact. Collette gained approximately 40 pounds to play the role of Muriel Heslop, a circumstance which has caused a number of reviewers to concentrate on her physical appearance rather than on the strength of her performance. A number of actresses turned down the role of Muriel for precisely this reason: they did not wish to be mistaken for an overweight, uncool character. Apparently the article has made the same mistake, seeing the "realism" Collette brings to the role as a coincidence of corporeal self rather than as a sacrifice made by the actress. While a weight gain by a male actor is often termed immersion in a role, a similar gain by a female actress is described as slovenly, with good acting resulting in spite of, not as a codicil to, this fact.
Secondly, the review's statement that Muriel seeks to be "an independent woman" throughout the film is also inaccurate. While it is true that Muriel wishes to be noticed and admired, she does not wish to be so noticed as an independent person, but as a wife, as one half of a couple. Her realization of the emptiness and misdirection of marriage as an end in itself ultimately pushes her on the road to independence. This path, however, is not one which she has sought from the beginning.
Furthermore, to note that Muriel ultimately gets a "loving husband" is an absolute falsehood; perhaps the exchange of lines "I don't love you" [and] "I don't love you either" should serve as an indicator that while the marriage of Muriel and the Olympic swimmer becomes convivial, it is never a union of love. That she leaves him is not a function of the realization of her lack of love for him, but rather an acknowledgment of the constant fact of it, which has, with the death of her mother, become significantly more important.
Finally, "Muriel's Wedding" is not Collette's first performance: she starred in the 1992 movie "Efficiency Expert" with Anthony Hopkins.
