Movie Review

Rachel Getting Married (R)

Pete Hammond

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Hollywood.com Says
Anne Hathaway hits it out of the park with a winning portrait of a young woman in crisis in this funny, sad and very truthful story of a dysfunctional family trying to come together for a wedding celebration.

Story
Shot in a nervous, intrusive style, Rachel Getting Married is a blistering portrait of a family during a tension-filled wedding weekend. The long-simmering conflicts come to the surface at an event that’s supposed to be about good times. Actually, the title is a bit of a misnomer since although it is indeed Rachel (Rosemarie DeWitt) getting hitched, the plot really revolves around her troubled sister Kym (Hathaway), who comes straight from a stint in rehab to the family gathering. In attending the wedding, she brings a boatload of personal issues--sibling and parental resentments and a whole host of other problems guaranteed to make everyone in the room uncomfortable. This all comes to a head early on at the pre-wedding dinner at which she makes an awkward, piercing toast that puts the entire place on edge. It doesn’t help that her father (Bill Irwin) is rather weak and overprotective, and her mother (Debra Winger) is now remarried and has moved on to a different kind of life--disconnected from her daughters emotionally. The wedding, a Hindu ceremony, becomes a catalyst for personal confrontations that finally break out into the open.

Acting
The ensemble cast assembled by director Jonathan Demme is simply unbeatable--led by a breakthrough performance from Hathaway. Her wry ironic humor, internal self-loathing, seething conflicts and heartbreaking emotional vulnerability are all the by-products of a young woman who desperately needs to be embraced. This is a major acting turn, and those who only think of Hathaway from Ella Enchanted and The Princess Diaries are going to be surprised to see the emergence of an actress who is the real thing. As her sister Rachel, DeWitt, who also was impressive as the mistress in season one of Mad Men, doesn’t get to take center stage but has several strong moments. Watch out for this one. Irwin and Winger prove the meaning of the word “pro” in their limited screen time. In just a couple of big scenes, Winger totally nails the mother and her need to distance her relationship with her own family. You only wish the part was fleshed out a little more, especially since great roles for Winger seem to be few and far between these days. Irwin is equally impressive, likeable but clueless as far as the real drama playing out between his daughters. This Tony-winning Broadway veteran gives us a lifetime of information about his character in just a few scattered moments.

Direction
The Oscar-winning Demme (Silence of the Lambs, Philadelphia) has spent the last few years doing documentaries and concert films, so it’s nice to report he’s got his mojo back with his first narrative film since 2004’s The Manchurian Candidate remake. Actually Rachel seems influenced by some of his recent non-fictional work with a documentary style approach to screenwriter Jenny Lumet’s somewhat conventional scripting. The use of hand-held cameras is pervasive and has the intended effect of bringing out raw emotions in the kind of cinema verite Robert Altman often employed. In a nod to the obvious inspiration, the late Altman is thanked in the end credits. Demme’s in-your-face filmmaking might be oft-putting to some members of the audience, but it effectively heightens the reality of the piece, separating Rachel from the pack. Ultimately, this is a performance piece, and Demme has brought out the best of his cast of fine actors gaining award-worthy turns.

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