★ 6 / 10
Rachel Getting Married left me feeling quite ambivalent
DoryDarko
Rachel Getting Married left me feeling quite ambivalent. On the one hand I was really impressed with the acting (most notably from Anne Hathaway), on the other…
Rachel Getting Married left me feeling quite ambivalent. On the one hand I was really impressed with the acting (most notably from Anne Hathaway), on the other I just couldn't get myself to care. But that's really the director's doing; after all, it's his job to get me involved and to make me care about the story he's telling, and unfortunately, Jonathan Demme failed to do so with this film.
Something that throws you off right from the start is the incredibly shaky hand-held camera. There isn't a steady shot throughout the entire film. It actually gave me a headache during the first five minutes. This, in combination with the lack of proper story- and character build-up makes you feel like you're watching a home video of some stranger's wedding. And it's not particularly interesting… Strangely enough, during some parts of the film I felt like I was watching a Louis Theroux documentary, because that's exactly the way it was filmed. I expected a gangly Englishman with dark glasses to walk in at any moment and start asking questions. Actually, that might have done this film a world of good… Scenes go on way too long without there being a clear point to it, and I just have to wonder why Demme decided to go this way. I mean, he has made some really good films in the past, and I was strangely surprised to see he directed this. It looks and feels more a graduation project from some film student, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but it is when your name is Jonathan Demme. I even fast-forwarded some parts because the scenes were really dragging and I got bored. I actually felt like turning it off a few times, and that doesn't happen to me lot.
In the end though, I'm glad I stuck with it, because the second half of the film picks up the pace and finally introduces some real character drama.
Simply put, this film is about a drug addict who gets leave from rehab for a few days to attend her sister's wedding and pretty much ruins the whole thing. Anne Hathaway is very impressive as Kym, a self-centred, reckless addict, and she plays her role convincingly. So much so even, that she manages to make you feel NOT sympathetic towards her character at all. She is completely self-absorbed and unlikable, and even steals her sister Rachel's thunder when she (Rachel) announces to her family that she is pregnant, and Kym immediately turns the conversation around and makes it all about her again, and does so on many more occasions. I know that many people who are related to drug addicts will be able to relate to these typical symptoms, so in that sense, it was all very real. On her part, Rosemarie DeWitt, who plays Rachel, was equally impressive as she firmly stood her ground as the loyalty-torn older sister who only asks to be in the spotlight for one day of her life, without her troubled sister claiming all the attention. However, the part that mostly struck a nerve with me was that of their dad, played by Bill Irwin, who is, more than anyone, caught in loyalty limbo, not wanting to have to choose sides between his two daughters. He doesn't overact his inner conflict in any way, yet he garners more sympathy than anyone, because he makes his pain so understandable.
In fact, everything about Rachel getting married is all very human and relatable. The story (written by Jenny Lumet, daughter of Sidney!) is not one any of us have never heard before, but that's alright. We don't always need super complicated psycho-analysis with characters talking like they all studied Freud for the past twenty years. Sometimes, simple stories about human troubles are enough to carry a film. It may be somewhat predictable, with a quasi-happy ending, but it's still credible enough to leave you satisfied.
And yet, I don't feel this film deserves much more than a 6, maybe a 7. And the fault of this lies entirely with the direction. The shaky home video style I mentioned earlier might work for The Blair Witch project, but not for a slow-paced character drama. And the pacing was just horrible. Some scenes were completely unnecessary and could have easily been cut down or even left out completely and nobody would have noticed. In fact, that would have helped a lot. It's really a shame, because the story is decent and the acting is great, but this is not a great film and it never will be. I do think it's worth the watch, especially if you want to see Anne Hathaway in what is probably a career-defining role. But from the man who made Philadelphia, this is a bitter disappointment.
_(October 2011)_
★ 1 / 10
Fake documentary, real boredom
dierregi
The only good news about this movie is that Anne Hathaway is a professional performer. She is given a most unlovable role to play and she plays it flawlessly.…
The only good news about this movie is that Anne Hathaway is a professional performer. She is given a most unlovable role to play and she plays it flawlessly. Also, you don't have to worry about reading a spoiler, because nothing worth spoiling happens during the whole movie.
In a nutshell, the movie is a sort of fake documentary about a multiracial wedding organized by a severely dysfunctional family. Members of said family are narcissistic, rehab babe Kym (Hathaway); her snobbish sister Rachel; their divorced, weak father and their fed-up mother.
I will mention only a few among the movie many problems
1) the music played throughout the film is simultaneously nerve-wracking and monotonous. A special note of demerit to a strident violin that drills its way into your brain; 2) the fake documentary style is achieved by filming with a shaking camera, probably hand-held by a monkey; 3) the whole film, already pretty inconsistent is further watered down by a couple of excruciatingly tedious scenes. The first is the rehearsal dinner, during which almost every guest is given a chance of saying something banal about the happy couple. This type of thing is corny enough in real life, but when one has to sit through some 20 minutes listening to stupid stories about fictional characters, it becomes unbearable. The second is the post-wedding party. Here again we are given ample time to observe each and every character dancing, contorting and generally making a fool of themselves at the sound of ethnic world music; 4) the cast looks just out of a famous "United Colours" advertisement. It could not have bee more politically correct or multiracial than this. Actually, to the point of absurdity, because the bride wears a sari and cuts through an Indian wedding cake, despite the fact that neither she nor the groom are Indian. Why going Indian? No answer; 5) finally, even if Anne Hathaway does a good job, her character is so unlovable, self-centered and self-destructive that it does not elicit the least sympathy.
At a certain stage I sincerely hoped that Kym would manage to kill herself, to put an end to her - and the audience - misery and to provide some sort of cathartic moment to this otherwise lethargic movie. Obviously, no such luck. As mentioned above, nothing happens, dramatic or otherwise.
If you dislike real wedding for their sleazy jokes, drunken guests, never-ending speeches and headache-provoking bad music, avoid this movie at all costs. Also if you like good movies
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