Muriel's Wedding (1994)

Big, gawky, and freckled-pale, with a grin that's so eager to please it's a little scary, Muriel (Toni Collette), the heroine of this raucous Australian comedy, is an earnest misfit caught up in daydreams as overripe as the rest of her life is empty. Her favorite pastimes are staring wistfully into bridal shops and listening to ABBA-in particular, that delectable ice cream swirl of a princess fantasy, ''Dancing Queen.'' Virtually every scene of Muriel's Wedding cues us to chuckle at the superficiality of its heroine's dreams. The trouble with the movie is that there's nothing to Muriel but her false dreams: We never quite glimpse the woman they're hiding.