Rachels Hochzeit

A great performance by Anne Hathaway and a good story gets lost inside a horribly shot and edited film. Way to many "why did they do this" questions, way to many overly long scenes, and quite possibly the worst use of hand held camera technology in recent memory. 2 or 3 scenes could have been cut by more then half and gotten twice the effect. The use of music became annoying. People were walking out claiming to be nauseous, have headaches, etc. Would love to see have seen one steady shot, one establishing shot, one non-closeup. With that said, was worth seeing just for the performance of Anne Hathaway who was a revelation and now catapults to the head of the class of the 20 something acting class. This emotional performance marks a turning point in her career and makes me want to revisit some of her past performances to see what was there.

Sitting through a movie about sibling rivalry at a wedding, especially one starring the doe-eyed and normally facile Anne Hathaway, sounds like a potentially painful way to spend an evening. However, as directed by Jonathan Demme and written by Jenny Lumet (Sidney's daughter), this 2008 drama is not a lightweight star vehicle à la Julia Roberts circa 1997 but a darkly realistic look at the dysfunction within a family thrown into disarray. Using an almost cinéma vérité style, Demme explores how a wedding reopens old wounds within a family in a naturalistic way made all the more palpable by the emotional acuity in Lumet's screenplay.

The focus is on Kym, a chain-smoking former model who has spent the last several months in rehab. As a substance abuser whose only armor is cutting sarcasm, she is absurdly hopeful that her sister Rachel's wedding will be a harbinger for unconditional love from her upscale Connecticut family. Therein lies the problem as her narcissism provides the catalyst for long-simmering tensions that uncork during the preparations for a lavish, Indian-themed wedding weekend (the movie's working title was "Dancing with Shiva"). It soon becomes clear that Kym's link to a past tragedy is at the core of the unpredictable dynamics that force confrontations and regrettable actions among the four principal family members. Rachel appears to be Kym's sensible opposite, but their alternately close and contentious relationship shows how they have not full recovered from past resentments. Their remarried father Paul is a bundle of loving support to the point of unctuous for both his girls, while their absentee mother Abby is the exact opposite - guarded and emotionally isolated until she is forced to face both her accountability and anger in one shocking moment.

Anne Hathaway is nothing short of a revelation as Kym. Instead of playing the role against the grain of her screen persona, she really shows what would happen if one of her previous characters – say, Andy Sachs in "The Devil Wears Prada" - went another route entirely. The actress' studiousness and persistence are still very much in evidence, but the story allows her to use these traits under the guise of a self-destructive, often unlikable addict who gains attention through her outrageous self-absorption. As the put-upon title character, Rosemarie DeWitt realistically shows Rachel's sense of pain and resentment as the attention veers to Kym during plans for the most important day of her life. Bill Irwin is winning as the unapologetically grateful Paul, but it's really Debra Winger who steals her all-too-brief scenes by bringing the remote character of Abby to life. Now in her early fifties, the famously tempestuous actress seems to rein in her innate fieriness to play a woman who consciously disconnects herself from the family she raised. What remains is a crumbling façade of propriety masking this obvious gap. It's similar to Mary Tyler Moore's turn as the cold mother in "Ordinary People", but casting the normally vibrant Winger (who probably would have played Kym a quarter century ago) is a masterstroke.

The film is not perfect. Demme's home-video approach, while novel at first, proves wearing over the 114-minute running time. Pacing is also a problem, especially when the focus turns to the minutiae of the wedding ceremony and reception. I wish Demme could have cut this part of the film, so we could get to the icy, unfinished resolution sooner. As a filmmaker who obviously enjoys making music concert films ("Stop Making Sense", "Neil Young: Heart of Gold"), there are quite a few musical performances presented in total. However, for non-aficionados, it may prove too much over time. While it's refreshing to see interracial marriages treated so casually (Lumet's grandmother is legend Lena Horne), Demme makes almost too big a point in presenting a global community though the diverse music and the wedding's multi-cultural themes. The movie starts to feel like a Putumayo collection of third-world performances. Still, Demme's intentions can't be faulted, and neither can the piercing work of Hathaway and Winger.

This film is about a recovering alcoholic with a tormented past. She returns home to attend her sister's wedding, which stirs up much emotions and wounds.

I was thoroughly bored by "Rachel Getting Married". It is far too long and far too slow. The family dysfunction scenes are captivating, but they are interspersed far in between wedding scenes. The film could be just half as long if they cut away the repetitive speeches and the everlasting dances. I really think the 5 minutes of continuous dancing to different styles of music adds nothing to the film but boredom.

I hoped "Rachel Getting Married" would be a captivating and engaging drama, but I was disappointed.

Family gatherings often make for awkward or even unpleasant moments in movies, and Jonathan Demme's "Rachel Getting Married" presents such a situation. Anne Hathaway plays Kym, who gets released from rehab for a few days to attend her sister's wedding in Connecticut. Once she arrives, the family's painful history begins to come out, and every member - Kym included - has to face how s/he has contributed to the problems.

Probably the most noticeable thing during the movie is the hand-held camera-work. Due to the film's caustic subject matter, this was an appropriate move, so as to create a naturalistic sensation, but at the same time it does occasionally distract from the movie's action. But aside from that, the characters made me feel as if I was walking on eggshells, simply due to the family's anger resulting from their gut-wrenching history. The fine performances without a doubt reinforce this.

Undoubtedly, "Rachel Getting Married" reaffirms Jonathan Demme as one of the great directors of our era. The top-notch performances, helping the audience understand what is wrong with this dysfunctional family, just might give you a new view of your own family. Definitely one that you can't afford to miss. Also starring Rosemarie DeWitt, Bill Irwin and Debra Winger.

Jonathan Demme back in great form. That's the good news. I've read somewhere he didn't want to work with actors anymore. He wanted to stick to documentaries where freedom (as a filmmaker) is king. I'm glad he changed his mind. He is a gift to actors and here they are subjected to a documentary style that for the first few minutes made me fear the worst but that at the end of the day it works brilliantly. Jenny Lumet's terrific scrip feels amazingly personal (wasn't her father, Sidney Lumet, once Lena Horne's son in law?)The characters are too vivid to be the figment of someone's imagination or is Demnme's documentary style that makes it appear that way?. I don't know and quite frankly I don't care. I went where the characters took me, Anne Hathaway and Rosemary DeWitt are terrific but it is Debra Winger's distant mother that will make me want to see this film again. I don't know how explain it. She's on the screen for a few minutes but her presence is extraordinary. Even when she's part of the crowd you can't take your eyes off her. Go see it/her