Runaway Bride (film)

This article is about the 1999 film. For the 1930 film, see The Runaway Bride (film).

Runaway Bride
File:Runaway Bride.jpg Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Garry Marshall
Produced by	Ted Field Tom Rosenberg Scott Kroopf Robert Cort
Written by	Josann McGibbon Sara Parriott Audrey Wells
Starring	Julia Roberts Richard Gere Joan Cusack Héctor Elizondo Rita Wilson Paul Dooley
Music by	James Newton Howard
Cinematography	Stuart Dryburgh
Edited by	Bruce Green
Production company	Paramount Pictures Touchstone Pictures Lakeshore Entertainment Interscope Communications
Distributed by	Paramount Pictures (USA & Canada) Buena Vista International (International)
Release dates	July 30, 1999 (1999-07-30)
Running time	116 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$70 million
Box office	$309.4 million

Runaway Bride is a 1999 American romantic comedy film directed by Garry Marshall, and stars Julia Roberts and Richard Gere. The screenplay was written by Josann McGibbon, Sara Parriott and Audrey Wells.

Plot

Maggie Carpenter (Julia Roberts) is a spirited and attractive young woman who has had a number of unsuccessful relationships. Maggie, nervous of being married, has left a trail of fiancés. She's left three men waiting for her at the altar on their wedding day (all of which are caught on tape), receiving tabloid fame and the dubious nickname "The Runaway Bride".

Meanwhile, in New York, columnist Homer Eisenhower Graham or "Ike" (Richard Gere), writes an article about her that contains several factual errors, supplied to him by a man he meets in a bar who Ike later learns was one of Maggie's former fiancés. Ike is fired for not verifying his source, but is invited to write an in-depth article about Maggie in a bid to restore his reputation. He travels to Hale, Maryland, where he finds Maggie living with her family and on her fourth attempt to become married. The fourth groom-to-be, Bob Kelly (Christopher Meloni), is a football coach at the local high school who is fond of using sports analogies to help Maggie with her concerns. He constantly makes references to Maggie "focusing" on the goal-line in reference to their pending nuptials. As Ike starts going around town to meet her friends, family, and former fiancés, Maggie becomes frustrated and feels he is getting the story wrong again.

Ike begins to cooperate with Maggie on the story, Maggie being interested in getting him to publish the truth, and the two become closer to each other the more time they spend together. During his research for the story, Ike realizes that Maggie is adjusting her interests to mimic those of her fiancés in order to please them. This is signified most prominently by her choice of eggs, which changes with each fiancé. At a pre-wedding celebration for her and Bob, Ike defends Maggie from the public mockery she starts receiving from her family and guests, and Maggie walks outside due to the embarrassment. Ike then confronts Maggie outside about his realization regarding her relationships.

In the midst of the wedding rehearsal, Bob tries to help Maggie deal with her wedding anxieties by walking her down the aisle with Ike standing in as the groom. After Bob gets her to the altar, Ike and Maggie share a passionate kiss and admit their feelings for one another, to Bob's chagrin. As a result, he punches Ike in the face before storming out of the church. Soon after, Ike proposes that he and Maggie get married since the wedding is already set to take place. But on the day of the wedding, Maggie gets cold feet, and leaves Ike standing at the altar. Ike chases after her but she hitches a ride on a FedEx truck and gets away.

Later, we see Ike living in New York and Maggie trying to discover herself, trying different types of eggs, and putting her lighting designs up for sale in New York. She shows up unexpectedly at Ike's apartment one night where he finds her making friends with his cat, Italics. Maggie then explains that she had been running because every other guy she was engaged to was only engaged to the idea she had created for them rather than the real her, but with Ike she ran because, even though he truly understood her, she didn't understand herself. She "turns in" her running shoes just before proposing to Ike. The two are married in a private ceremony outside, on a hill, avoiding the big ceremonies that Maggie notes she never actually liked. In the end, they are shown riding away on horseback while everyone in Hale and New York (clued in via cell phone by Ike and Maggie's family) celebrates the fact that Maggie finally got married.

A post credit scene shows Maggie and Ike playing in the snow signifying that the relationship is going strong well after the wedding.

Cast

• Julia Roberts as Margaret "Maggie" Carpenter, a woman who has run away from three weddings but is hoping not to do so on her fourth wedding attempt
• Richard Gere as Ike Graham, a New York City news reporter who writes an article about Maggie and later falls in love with her. His real name is Homer Eisenhower Graham
• Joan Cusack as Peggy Flemming ("not the ice skater"; this is a running gag in the film)
• Héctor Elizondo as Fisher
• Rita Wilson as Ellie Graham
• Paul Dooley as Walter Carpenter
• Christopher Meloni as Bob Kelly
• Lisa Roberts Gillan as Elaine from Manhattan
• Donal Logue as Priest Brian Norris
• Reg Rogers as George "Bug Guy" Swilling
• Yul Vazquez as Dead Head Gill Chavez
• Kathleen Marshall as Cousin Cindy
• Sela Ward as Pretty woman in bar
• Garry Marshall (uncredited) as First softball baseman
• Laurie Metcalf (uncredited) as Betty Trout
• Larry Miller (uncredited) as NY bartender Kevin
• Emily Eby (uncredited) as reporter

Production history

The film was in development for over a decade. Actors attached at various times: Anjelica Huston, Mary Steenburgen, Lorraine Bracco, Geena Davis, Demi Moore, Sandra Bullock, Ellen DeGeneres, Téa Leoni (for the role of Maggie); Christopher Walken, Harrison Ford, Mel Gibson, Michael Douglas (for the role of Ike) and Ben Affleck (for the role of Bob). Director Michael Hoffman was attached. Writers Elaine May and Leslie Dixon did unused rewrites.

Much of the film production took place in historic Berlin, Maryland, which was made over to become the fictitious town of Hale, Maryland. Main Street in Berlin, MD as well as some of the landmarks such as the Atlantic Hotel were left nearly as-is during production, while some of the business names on Main Street were changed.

Coco Lee performed the theme song, "Before I Fall in Love."

Release

Box office

The film opened on July 30, 1999 with $12,000,000 on its opening day. In its opening weekend, Runaway Bride peaked at #1 with $35,055,556.

By the end of its run, the film had grossed $152,257,509 domestically and an international $157,200,000, altogether making $309,457,509 worldwide.

Critical reception

Runaway Bride received generally mixed reviews from critics. The review aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a 46% rating, with the consensus calling it a "cliché story with lack of chemistry between Richard Gere and Julia Roberts."

External links

• Runaway Bride at IMDb
• Runaway Bride at the TCM Movie Database
• Runaway Bride at Rotten Tomatoes
• Runaway Bride at AllMovie
• Runaway Bride at Box Office Mojo
• Film stills