The nice thing about cable TV with too many movie channels is that somewhere in that haystack of old and new, classic and forgotten is that occasional needle that sews purpose back into your movie-watching experience. (Also great is having TV Guide as your metal detector).

"Muriel's Wedding" is the story of a young woman in her twenties driven to lie, cheat and steal by her one and only goal: to get married. It sounds light-hearted, as if it could be the plot line for the next Lindsay Lohan/Hilary Duff chick flick, but don't take "lie, cheat and steal" too lightly nor "getting married" to be as happy and heart-warming as it is often symbolically presented.

I don't know if it was the fact that the movie is from the early 90s or that it's Australian that makes the plot and the character development surprising at times, breaking out of the formulaic romantic comedy we know and I, genuinely, cherish. It doesn't quite follow the mold where the audience is taken to gentle slopes of joy, frustration, grief and delight. For example, Muriel is, in a word, insane, and at times so horrid she deserves no sympathy at all. While there is the traditional naive, ugly duckling to the confident, made over woman transition, there isn't that core good but oppressed person you're rooting for through the changes. As for the story, the "happy ending" comes in the middle and "ever after" isn't quite what one would expect. But it works, and for all it's surprises, it shines on its own.

If I ever have to make a "Favorite Movies" list, I have to remember to count this one.