53Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994)

“Its influence on the British film industry, on romantic-comedy writing, on the pop charts, on funeral readings, on haircuts, was enormous,” said The Guardian, looking back on the film 20 years later. Four Weddings and a Funeral was a sensation in the U.S., too. How many romantic comedies are still trying to duplicate the film’s cast chemistry, its bawdiness and pathos? Richard Curtis, who took home the Writers Guild Award for Original Screenplay, gave credit to the casting of said of a then-unknown Hugh Grant: “There may be writers where the writing has a particular quality which means that it sounds pretty good with lots of actors, and you're trying to find the best actor. Whereas I think with mine you're looking for a tiny bit of realistic comic flair. And until you get that optimistic, humanistic performance it's really no good at all.”