P.J. Hogan

Another of the Australian filmmakers whose successful work in their homeland brought Hollywood calling, P J Hogan burst into international awareness when his first feature as director and writer, "Muriel's Wedding," debuted to a 15-minute standing ovation at the 1994 Cannes Film Festival's Directors' Fortnight. A box-office champ, "Muriel's Wedding" dominated the Australian Film Institute Awards, earning eleven nominations and winning four. Basically an ugly-duckling story that relied on broad humor to make its point, the film benefited from Hogan's capabilities with actors. He elicited star-making performances from lead Toni Collette and supporting player Rachel Griffiths. Its success led to his directing "My Best Friend's Wedding" (1997), starring Julia Roberts. With a screenplay by Ronald Bass, this "Wedding" presented Roberts in a return to comedy and featured strong turns from Cameron Diaz (as Roberts' rival in love) and Rupert Everett (as her gay editor). Both films utilized popular music (ABBA in "Muriel's Wedding," Burt Bacharach in "My Best Friend's Wedding") and Hogan showed increasing growth handling diverse comic material.