Review: Rachel Getting Married (2008)

[dnb at dca.net]

RACHEL GETTING MARRIED
A film review by David N. Butterworth
Copyright 2008 David N. Butterworth

***1/2 (out of ****)


     Anne Hathaway has never really done much for me.  Probably the
first time I remember seeing her was in "The Princess Diaries" (although
she'd been in 13 episodes of "Get Real" on TV before that, playing a
character named Meghan Green).  I didn't exactly notice her in
"'Diaries," since that film was such a rags-to-riches dog, and the very
doggishness of the entire production tended to distract one from
whatever Hathaway might have contributed to the piece, good or bad.

     She was in "The Devil Wears Prada," of course, but again so
obviously upstaged by Meryl Streep (channeling Glenn Close's Cruella De
Vil) that, as a result, she kind of slunk into the background also.  I
*did* notice her breasts in "Brokeback Mountain" and remembered being
woefully disappointed by that.  I mean, I understand that Ang Lee's a
cool director an' all but even so...  As far as I remember that scene in
the pick-up truck didn't necessitate toplessness.  A brassiere would've
just as easily sufficed.

     Now Ms. Hathaway is starring, front and center, in Jonathan Demme's
new feature "Rachel Getting Married" and she's hard *not* to notice. 
And I mean that in a good way--a *very* good way.

     Hathaway sports a dyed black crop as Kym, nine months free of
abusing substances and released from rehab in time for her sister
Rachel's upcoming nuptials.  Unconditional love and acceptance here we
come--not!  Chain-smoking her sorry way through life, Kym feels the
disapproval and embarrassment of her family at every turn, and attempts
to make amends (the 12-step way) via a poorly received Maid of Honor
speech.  But, as she points out, being Mother Theresa wouldn't exactly
satisfy her clan.

     As events unfold we learn the whys and the wherefores of Kym's
hospitalization, her parents divorce (her somewhat distant mother is
played by Debra Winger in a scarily real performance), her sister's
disappointment.  "Scarily real," in fact, describes "Rachel Getting
Married" to a tee.

     Director Demme shoots most everything with a dispassionate
hand-held camera that evokes the fine Danish drama "The Celebration,"
which centered around a family reunion not unlike this one, captured the
tense, dramatic events via a natural filmmaking style, and featured an
actor, Ulrich Thomsen, who looks not unlike Bill Irwin here (Irwin plays
the patriarch and his is a fine performance too, as is Rosemarie
DeWitt's as the eponymous Rachel).

     This cinÃ(c)ma vÃ(c)ritÃ(c) approach of Demme's is so convincing it's often
hard to remember we're watching a fictionalized drama (the recent
"Margot at the Wedding" tackled similar dysfunctional family themes with
less successful results).  The wedding dinner scene, during which many a
toast is proffered, is a striking example of how this talented director
applies his chosen technique.

     Demme also has a knack for drawing out fine performances (see: "The
Silence of the Lambs") and Hathaway is the best she's been. 
Self-absorbed and narcissistic, Kym is not intrinsically likable but
Hathaway ditches her own lightweight image by bringing out her
character's emotional core.  Credit should also go to Jenny Lumet
(daughter of veteran director Sydney Lumet), whose finely realized
screenplay neither skirts nor overplays the issues.

     Rachel gets married, but it's Anne who gets the cred.


-- 
David N. Butterworth, Film Editor
www.offoffoff.com/film | dnb at dca.net