Wedding Delight
Written: Jan 08 '09 (Updated Jan 08 '09)
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Product Rating:
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| Bang For The Buck |
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Pros: Anne Hathaway is oscar worthy. A powerful film that is both honest and observant.
Cons: Director Jonathan Demme falls in love with the concept of ambiance at certain intervals.
The Bottom Line: A star making turn from Anne Hathaway is topped by off Jonathan Demmes unobtrusive direction and Jenny Lumets brilliant screenplay.
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| whaler66's Full Review: Rachel Getting Married |
Directed By Jonathan Demme. Written By Jenny Lumet
Anne Hathaway (Kym)
Rosemary DeWitt (Rachel)
Bill Irwin (Paul)
Debra Winger (Abby)
Tunde Adebimpe (Sydney)
Mather Zickel (Kieran)
Anne Deveare Smith (Carol)
I'm thinking about a film that Sandra Bullock made in the year 2000; 28 Days. Like Rachel Getting Married, 28 Days focuses on the theme of addiction and recovery and the hard roads traveled in between. The problem with 28 Days was that it tried to wrap up everything in a neat little bow; Rachel Getting Married does not. I applaud screenwriter Jenny Lumet for not selling out her story or her characters in the name of mainstream appeal. The ambivalence of the final act is what ultimately gives Rachel Getting Married a rather genuine feel. When it comes to the issue of recovery, there are no guarantees and each day above water is a step in the right direction. Screenwriter Jenny Lumet understands this well. Indeed, the younger Lumet, daughter of master film maker Sydney Lumet, seems to have a knack for making choices that stay true to both her story and her characters. Take the Kieran character for instance. Kieran (Mather Zickel) is a recovering addict that Kym (Anne Hathaway) meets by happenstance during an AA meeting. Nine times out of ten, a newbie screenwriter will use the meeting between the two addicts as a spring board for an audience friendly meet cute. Screenwriter Jenny Lumet is way to smart to take such a shortcut. The Kieran character isn't designed to be a love interest developed on the whim of the plot. He is, essentially, Kym's compass; he's been where she's been and he speaks her language. What I also love about Jenny Lumet's screenplay is its knack for the little moments; the moments where the past and all of its baggage floats to the surface and everyone tries to avoid stepping on a potential fault line. What am I talking about? There's a great moment in the film where Kym (Anne Hathaway)and Rachel (Rosemarie DeWitt) are enjoying some friendly generational smack talk between their dad , Paul (Bill Irwin) and Rachel's fiancee, Sydney (Tunde Adebimpe.) Towards the end of this sequence, Paul (Irwin) stumbles upon a long forgotten memento of his son; the brother that Kym's substance abuse ripped away from him. I love what director Jonathan Demme does with this sequence, the way he isolates on dad's face and then Rachels face. There is a rather poignant close up of Kym as the scenes fades out.
Plot: Life couldn't be sweeter for Rachel (Rosemarie DeWitt.) She is about to be married to a wonderful man named Sydney (Tumbe Adebimpe) who loves Rachel as much as she loves him. Enter, Rachels sister Kym. Kym (Anne Hathaway) is the black sheep of the family, having been in and out of rehab multiple times and what not. You see, Kym, during one of her binges, was behind the wheel when their little brother was killed. This is a sin that Rachel has troubling forgiving Kym for and Kym's appearance at her wedding only serves to pour even more salt on a wound that hasn't quite healed. Meanwhile...... their father, Paul (Bill Irwin) struggles to deal with the potential fallout from Kym's visit while trying to make peace with the accident and the loss of his son. Rounding out the family dynamic is Paul's first wife, Abby. Abby (Debra Winger) chooses to deal with the loss of her son by keeping a safe emotional distance from those around her; Kym and Rachel included. I'll stop there, you can decipher the rest of the plot on your own.
I've given a ton of credit to screenwriter Jenny Lumet but director Jonathan Demme deserves some kudos as well. For a film shot on a digital hand held camera, the look of Rachel Getting Married is rather smooth. In fact, the nausea inducing cut aways usually associated with a film shot on a hand held are totally non existent here. Does director Jonathan Demme fall in love with the idea of creating a certain atmosphere by allowing his camera to linger on a certain sequence for what seems like an eternity? Yes, but I understand his intent. The toast sequence is well written and well played by everyone involved, especially Anne Hathaway. It's a bit to long for my taste but I love how Demme lets the camera linger on Kym as her wedding speech turns into a painful self confessional. This is Demmes best asset as a director, using the camera as a compass of sorts. To me, this approach is a perfect compliment for the sequences that involve a group of characters all trying to weigh in with a thought or two.
OK, I've give kudos to director Jonathan Demme and writer Jenny Lumet... might as well heap some praise on the cast before I get out of here. If the academy doesn't grace Anne Hathaway with an Oscar nomination then they're absolutely bonkers. A friend of mine who saw this film said that Hathaway's glib approach to her character, Kym, was a mis play of sorts. The first few times Hathaway was on screen I thought that way too. If you look beneath the surface though, one sees that Kym's glibness is a shield of sorts. She's a woman without a country, she has no idea how to play things in terms of her family and the lingering baggage from her past. I compare Hathaway's turn as Kym to the work that Ellen Page has done. Like Page, Hathaway has the ability to stop on a dime and change emotional direction without a hint of awkwardness setting in. Nothing is more indicative of this then the moment where everyone stops playing nice and Kym debates the merits of showing contrition for the accident that claimed her brothers life.
I know that Debra Winger has been known for being difficult on set but it's a shame that she works so infrequently. There is a certain subtlety to Wingers performance, especially when Abby stops pretending that she's not angry about what happened with Kym and her son. Winger is an actress who can give an audience so much by doing so very little. The sequence towards the end with her and Hathaway and Dewitt is a prime example of this fact.
Closing thoughts: As I said before, screenwriter Jenny Lumets screenplay has a knack for the little moments. Moments between siblings where one word or one thought fractures all attempts at Co-existent. Moments where the dam breaks and all the harsh truths of the past come rushing to the surface. Jenny Lumet comes from good stock and boy.... does it show.
Recommended:
Yes
Movie Mood: Serious Movie
Viewing Method: Other
Film Completeness: Looked complete to me.
Worst Part of this Film: Nothing
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Epinions.com ID:
whaler66
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Location: Chicago, Illinois
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