BOTTOM
LINE:
The quasi-home movie/documentary
style employed by director Jonathan Demme makes the experience of
watching this film, at best, a dull bore; which ultimately dwarfs
an otherwise stellar performance by Anne Hathaway playing against
type and an unknown supporting cast who are likewise strong.
THE
GOOD: For a character-driven
family drama it is necessary to have a strong cast to carry the
film and in this respect, “Rachel Getting Married” does
manage to deliver the goods. Standing out like a beacon of light
in the cast is the unusually cast Anne Hathaway who plays recovering
drug addict “Kym”. For all intents and purposes, she
is a juvenile delinquent who likes to rebel against her family despite
yearning for their respect and acceptance while simultaneously pushing
them away. She returns to the family on the eve of her sister’s
wedding, disrupting everyone and everything in her path with her
cynical outlook, biting one-liners and outright selfishness. Hathaway
can play the sweet innocent to perfection (she has built her career
on it), but in this film, none of that is present. Instead, we have
a well rounded, tragic and three-dimensional portrayal of an internally
conflicted woman who has never been able to get over a life-changing
mistake that affected not only her but her whole family. This is
a refreshing change for Hathaway who demonstrates she has much more
range in this film, and is probably worthy of the oscar nomination.
The remainder of the cast are likewise strong, full of unknowns
for the most part, creating what looks like a real family, which
is good given the stylistic choices employed for the film by director
Jonathan Demme.
