Welcome back for another English movie review lesson — I’m Teacher Teddy, and today, let’s talk about Four Weddings and a Funeral.

Today’s lesson is about speeches, toasts and condolences: a microphone in your hand at a wedding, and a grieving colleague at work. By the end of this video, you’ll have the right words for both. And listen out for one moment in particular: the end of Charles’s speech, when the glasses go up; the toast is the one fixed line in every speech.

Charles has attended more weddings than he can count, always as a guest and never as the groom, and he is perpetually late. If a friend asked you to make the speech at their wedding, what would you say first?

📜 Plot & how the story is told

The story begins in Somerset, in the English countryside, one Saturday morning in the nineties. Charles has overslept, in a frantic household. He is best man at the wedding of Angus and Laura, and the ceremony is imminent. With him are his flatmate Scarlett, his deaf brother David, his friends Fiona and Tom, and a couple called Gareth and Matthew. Charles has forgotten the rings.

The fourth wedding is Charles’s own, to a woman he does not love, Henrietta. Then Carrie reappears, newly separated from Hamish. Whether Charles says “I do”, and what his brother David does about it — I won’t tell you here.

What I can tell you is that the funeral poem sent a long-dead poet back into the bestseller lists.

📖 Vocabulary spotlight

This episode also has three bonus vocabulary words — the words real critics reached for when they wrote about this film, and the ones you’ll want when you talk about it yourself.

Now the whole story again, with every word from today in it. See how many you catch. Charles oversleeps, forgets the rings, and proposes a toast, raising his glass to the happy couple. At the second, Tom’s speech should begin with “I’ll keep this short”, but it doesn’t. At the third, Gareth collapses, and the friends gather round a grieving Matthew: so sorry for your loss, and if there’s anything I can do, just ask. At the funeral, Matthew reads a poem for a man who’ll be sorely missed. Charles is self-deprecating, the script is sophisticated, and the whole company is genial.

💬 Critic reception

Now, let’s talk about how critics have described Four Weddings and a Funeral.

Try it yourself. At the start I asked what you would say first if a friend asked you to make the speech at their wedding. Charles makes his with the rings forgotten and a room braced for a long one. What would your first line be? Write two sentences in the comments here or on the website, and use “I’ll keep this short” or “please raise your glasses” in one of them.

So, what’s the final verdict on Four Weddings and a Funeral? Here’s mine. As a film, it is the template for every British romantic comedy since, and still the most sophisticated: the weddings are hilarious, the funeral is sincere, and nothing is overplayed. For English learners, it is demanding: the dialogue is rapid and overlapping, the opening minute is nothing but swearing, and the accents run from Somerset to Scotland to Texas. But the speeches are slow by nature, and those are the lines you will need. Keep it short, raise your glass, and mean every word.

That’s my verdict. I’d like to hear yours — let me know in your review in the comments, or get in touch! If this helped you improve your English today, subscribe on YouTube, or follow along on Spotify or Apple Podcasts, for more episodes unlocking native English phrases and vocabulary pulled straight from your favourite movies. Free interactive learning materials for this lesson are in the description. Thanks for your time, and have a lovely day.