Rachel Getting Married (2008) User Reviews

Performances Outpace Story

[goldwriting · 6/10 · 4 October 2008]

In every actor's career there comes a moment where the critics and audiences rally around jumping for joy about how they've just witnessed a breakthrough performance. As stunning as these performances are, the term "breakthrough" always felt a little out of place to me since it's only on rare occasions the actor in question is relatively new. Most times they are people who have been pounding the boards and scraping the screen for years. In those terms, the breakthrough is nothing more than a large group of people seeing that actor in a new light for the first time, mostly in something they never imagined before. Now the newly colored spotlight falls on Anne Hathaway and her powerful turn as Kym in Rachel's Getting Married.

The film is a slice of life piece detailing a small space of time, only a few days, where Kym returns home from a rehab clinic just in time for her sister Rachel's wedding. Anyone who has ever taken part in arranging a wedding, especially one taking place in the family home, knows the extreme stress already present, so toss a young, partially unstable girl into the mix and top it off with a nice coating of family denial and dark skeletons in the hallway closet, then you get the full picture of this film. Relationships are strained, ties pulled so tight and taut they could snap and still they try to work it out through screaming, laughing and crying (not necessarily in that order). After all, it's about a wedding, who's not happy at those? Before giving Anne her due credit, let me shed some light on someone most people won't know off the top of their heads. Rosemarie DeWitt plays the title role of Rachel and she does it with the utmost tenderness and subtlety. What she brings across is the inherent hatred, resentment and unending compassion sisters can feel for each other, even through the worst of storms. With a film more comfortable in the category of "ensemble piece", Rosemarie is the catalyst and pushes the energy along, changing and charging every one of her scenes. But the light shines brightest on Anne Hathaway as Kym, the ex-junkie, ex-alcoholic, ex-return rehab patient bordering on becoming an ex-family member. Audiences claim this as a breakthrough performance because they fell in love with Anne in The Princess Diaries movies, Ella Enchanted and the wonderfully wicked The Devil Wears Prada. Yet what they might not remember is she's played rougher, tougher roles in Havoc and Brokeback Mountain, showing the more mature and adult side of her skills. So I wasn't all that shocked to witness the brilliance she brought to this film, but I will celebrate it all the same. Anne jumps in and exposes a vulnerability, a cavern of pain and lost love, which drives the emotional core of the picture. From opening credits to the closing moment, she is the elephant in the room everyone must deal with and the magical point is this is the first time where the audience can begin to empathize with the elephant and not the onlookers. I can't end the acting portion of this review without bringing up Bill Irwin and Debra Winger as well. Bill plays her father and churns out a tenderness only an accomplished actor such as himself could generate. There are such small moments, such tiny fractures in his facade which allow you to peer into the heart of a man trying to choose between his greatest love and his greatest loss. On the other side, Debra Winger plays her mother, who has chosen to block out the pain in her past and skate by the rest of her life, allowing the blackness and hurt to fester and suffocate any chance at a real connection with her daughters. As you can read, the acting on display here is sensational and will undoubtedly be remembered during awards season.

As a total film, I'm not sure the story reaches the same heights. A lot of great scenes and spectacular moments are created, but the story lacks cohesion. A particular subplot about the family and its deep love for music is mentioned and referred to over and over, but never fully explained or explored, which weighs down later scenes during the wedding celebration and the overlong musical sequences. During most of the musical moments, all I really wanted was to get back to the story, back to the family and to Kym. Also, the connection between Rosemarie and her soon-to-be husband Sydney (played by Tunde Adebimpe) never quite comes across. There is a wonderful moment during their wedding vows, but it could have been helped even more if their relationship had been more centered earlier on.

On the directing front, Jonathan Demme, with the assistance of a touchingly tender script from Jenny Lumet, helps craft a reality we can all believe in, a home we can all feel we've been to before. Much of this intimacy and nuance came from the free form style of camera movement, with the actors never knowing where and when the camera was going to appear on them. Everyone was basically playing everything from the moment he yelled action, so there were emotional surprises around every pan of the camera. That technique gave the movie a certain level of improv or even documentary feeling, like the audience was the most silent of voyeurs.

Recommendation: A powerful series of moments, filled with terrific acting, that don't quite come together as a film. Certainly has great value to witness, but the theater experience might not be necessary. Also, this really is meant for those viewers not afraid to open themselves up to it.

Family, Rehab, Wedding and Amends

[ferguson-6 · 6/10 · 20 October 2008]

Greetings again from the darkness. After the first 5 minutes, I hated Anne Hathaway's character and I was sea-sick from director Jonathan Demme's hand-held camera work. And then two hours later I felt like I had just attended a family wedding! I got fully sucked in by Jenny Lumet's (daughter of Sidney, the master) riveting story of a family ripped apart and trying desperately to hold on to what is left.

While Hathaway's Kym is getting all the pub, I found Rosemarie DeWitt's Rachel every bit as mesmerizing, though a bit less laser-tongue equipped. Their scenes together are mind-warping ... truly like watching footage of a train wreck over and over. They love and hate each other, all while being loved and hated by everyone else in the family. So much self-destructiveness that it makes one wonder why apparent sweet guy Sidney (played oddly by Tunde Adedimpbe of TV on the Radio) wants to have anything to do with this ghastly group.

Just to make sure you are absolutely uncomfortable, Lumet tosses in the rarely seen Debra Winger as Kym and Rachel's estranged mother, who has emotionally backed out of their life completely so as not to feel the guilt she deserves for the death of the youngest sibling.

There is no way to watch this movie without numerous moments of being squeamish or uncomfortable. That is really the strength of the film ... it draws you into this world that you just don't want to be a part of.

Hathaway Excels in a Fierce If Overlong Drama About Coming Home and Facing Demons

[EUyeshima · 8/10 · 12 October 2008]

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.

When will the wedding be over?

[Gordon-11 · 10 February 2009]

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.

Strong Performance from Anne Hathaway Saves an Otherwise Average Film

[dayXexists · 6/10 · 17 July 2010]

Well the movie itself wasn't anything special. I was wondering why every person in the cast had to give a speech, or sing a song, or whatever. The shaky cam as well was not necessary. It's not a documentary so don't treat it like one.

The film's obvious strong point, and really the only reason worth watching is Anne Hathaway's performance. Speaking as someone with a sister who is a (sometimes recovering) drug addict, I think she nailed it in the way her character was unstable yet narcissistic, starved for attention, and over the top emotional. I could really relate to her sister in that sense- how annoyed she gets the way people coddle her sister because she is immature and makes stupid decisions. It was just the little details that I think made Hathaway's performance so realistic- the tone she would use when she would make a joke about rehab, that trying to be sarcastic to get a laugh, but really just saying it to bring attention to the fact that she has issues. It showed that even if somebody is in recovery that doesn't necessarily mean they are recovered- that they have personality traits that are never going to change. I think she really captured the essence of that type of character.

There was also great performances, though, from the actors who play her mother, father, and sister. So bravo to pretty much the whole cast.

B-

Well Made

[jfgibson73 · 7/10 · 22 March 2009]

People seem to find a lot of things to dislike about this movie--the shaky camera work, the overlong wedding celebration, the diversity of the wedding guests. I noticed these things also, but I ended up liking it for the most part. From the very beginning, Anne Hathaway's performance drew me in, and it was strong enough to help me overlook some of the little annoyances.

Hathaway's character is coming home from rehab on the weekend of her sister's backyard wedding, and it turns out to be very stressful and melodramatic. This could have been a lot less fun to watch if these people argued like Jerry Springer guests, but they air their grievances very tastefully.

So who are these people? You have to guess a little bit about their backgrounds, because the movie doesn't hit you over the head with everything, and thank goodness. There are no lazy techniques like voice-over or flashback. At times, they seem very humble and down-to-earth, certainly well-educated, and probably wealthy. There were a couple clichés that would fit with this upper class stereotype--Anne's character is spoiled, self-absorbed, and has a drug problem. Debra Winger as the mother has a few things going on with her, but she inhabits her role so subtly, I don't even know how to boil it down to a single-phrase description. The dad had no backbone. Yet they all profess a fierce love for one another. Is the filmmaker trying to show that their family bond transcends the moments of anger (even getting physical in one scene), or do they end up hugging and saying "I love you" to keep up appearances as an upper class Conneticut family?

And then there are the rest of the friends and family.

You will see other comments and postings on this site about how everyone at the wedding represented a different ethnicity, and all were musically talented. One scene places the setting as in or near Stamford. So you can guess that maybe some of the characters work or study in the music department of a nearby university, and the party is at Rachel's house this weekend. I did find myself asking some of the same questions I've read in other comments while watching the reception scene--it just seemed too forcibly diverse.

At the end of the movie, Hathaway goes back to rehab. Was she only just out for the weekend? I thought I had heard them say had completed rehab? You get the sense that even though not everyone has said they are sorry for the arguments that came earlier, that some healing has taken place. It is a little open-ended as to what the future will hold for Hathaway's character, but that's realistic enough (and besides, critics LOVE open-ended film conclusions. See: Graduate, Verdict, Elephant). That's fine. We don't need everything solved for us. I'm not a sister or an addict, and I've never had a loved one who is an addict, but I enjoyed watching this movie. Shaky camera work doesn't scare me away.

It helps if you've been an addict yourself.

[threedogz · 10/10 · 27 February 2009]

Even though Roger Ebert recommended it, I felt nervous about seeing this film, nervous enough that I nearly walked out to go see the safer "Milk" instead. I'm glad I stayed. "Milk" has had more acclaim and will be seen by far more people. Which is a shame, because "Rachel Getting Married" is an excellent film.

Ten thoughts:

1. I'm bewildered that so many commenter's were so annoyed at the camera work and editing. Frankly, I didn't think the camera work was sloppy, shaky or spontaneous at all, but rather plot-driven, flowing and really authentic. It was done that way with clear purpose: to be your eyes and ears as if you were a guest yourself, in those rooms, at those moments, with those people, even at (especially at!) the moments that made you squirm.

Do you and I glide through rooms like Peter Pan? Heck no, we bob, weave, and turn our heads like football players constantly, whether we're aware of it or not. From the moment that Kym walks up the driveway and through the back door, we have the role of eavesdroppers, seeing and hearing things we shouldn't. A conventional style would have put safe distance between ourselves and the actors, and that's clearly not what the director wanted.

Yet as Mr. Ebert himself noted, there was one pivotal scene, featuring Debra Winger, that was shot in a solid, conventional manner. Which scene? Why that one? Why her character? What psychological things would a rock-steady camera convey there that a hand-held camera wouldn't?

2. Hi, my name is Keith and I'm a recovering addict and boy, until I saw this film, I never realized how totally full of myself I was. There, I just proved it by using the pronoun "I" four times in one sentence. Anybody nodding their head out there? (wave so I can see you) Being an addict (in or out of recovery) is like living in a hall of mirrors: you can never get away from yourself.

3. That said, there were a couple of times when Kym DID manage to join the others and DID manage to enjoy herself. And I was darned proud of her. She didn't even need a cigarette. And no, I'm not talking about the sex scene.

4. Rachel is getting married, yet she didn't even get to star in her own film! No wonder she's heading to Hawaii. You've got to admit she was right in what she said to her dad. The closing scene was so telling.

5. Why is it that the other person's family (in this case the groom's) always seems so much nicer than our own? His family was adorable! No skeletons in their closets, no sir.

6. Besides the stepmother, who was the sanest character in the entire film? The poodle! She even got a credit!

7. LOVED the music! Gosh, it was like being at the Winnipeg Folk Festival. Hopefully there's a CD soundtrack available.

8. The actress who played Rachel and the actor who played the best man look SO familiar! Yet I don't recognize their names at all. Awfully good though.

9. At the end of the film, is Kym leaving her home, or is she going there? Ergo, is rehab her real home now? Where can she go from here?

10. To all you Kyms out there, you have value, and you ARE worthy. Bless your every small step. Keep coming back, ye hear?

Pitching "Rachel Getting Married"

[bonsai-superstar · 6/10 · 19 May 2009]

Okay, check it out! What was one of the biggest movies last year? Right, "Juno"! We need a bigger star, though...let's get Anne Hathaway. You know, she's in those Disney movies. It'll be an "ironic", "hip" choice and she'll do a good job as she wants to leave the kids movies behind.

Yeah, it's a wedding pic. Story, well...did you see "Margot at the Wedding"? No? Good! It's like that. But those were low class people...we'll make 'em wealthy and troubled, like "Igby Goes Down" or "Garden State"! That way, we can have some nice scenery and good looking people.

Actually, let's make it really multi-cultural! "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" pulled in the big bucks. But we won't hold back - we'll throw in every kind of culture so no-one's left out! Yeah, those Dogme / cinema verite type films are popular now. Have you seen Mike Leigh's stuff? No? Well, kinda like Altman. No, don't worry, we'll film it practically real time so we don't have to hire an editor. You'll save money! Hey, actually, herky-jerky camera stuff is actually really trendy now (see "Blair Witch", "Cloverfield", etc.). We might not even have to hire a professional camera person!

Did ya see "Lost in Translation"? No? Well, it was pretty popular. Another slow-moving movie made by the daughter of a famous filmmaker (Sofia Coppola, daughter of Francis Ford). Guess who we got to write this one? No, not her. No, not him. No, not... anyway, we got the daughter of Sidney Lumet! Yeah, yeah, the "Network" guy. The story she has is a bit of a downer, but if the test audience finds it too depressing we'll just pad the drama scenes with wedding toasts and music performances and bill the whole thing as a comedy!

It's a sure-fire winner!

Excellent Study of Family Dysfunction (But Please Stop Using Hand-held Cameras!)

[evanston_dad · 9/10 · 29 October 2008]

The kind of movie that gives films about family dysfunction a good name.

Anne Hathaway plays Kym, troubled younger sister to Rachel, who's (as the title suggests) getting married. Kym gets a leave of absence from rehab in order to attend Rachel's nuptials. Once she's back home, old sores open up, sisterly resentment boils over, and the accusations and tears fly, all while ineffectual dad (Bill Irwin) tries to play referee and emotionally distant mom (Debra Winger) remains auspiciously absent.

If this sounds like a slog to sit through, don't be scared off. Unlike the recent and absolutely atrocious "Margot at the Wedding," which this film reminded me of, "Rachel Getting Married" is full of flawed but deeply sympathetic characters who I for one cared tremendously about. Anne Hathaway gives the kind of performance that will convince people she's more than just a pretty face, while she's met every step of the way by the less well known Rosemarie Dewitt, who plays Rachel. In a movie like this, it's crucial that the audience understands the back story that led the characters to their current dynamic, and it's a minor miracle that "Rachel Getting Married" does that without the use of flashbacks, voice over or even extensive scenes of plot exposition. Much of the story is told through nuance, in slight expressions or gestures, and the cast is uniformly fierce, every single member creating complex, flesh-and-blood people that aren't easy to instantly categorize. The film is an acting tour de force in every sense of the word.

Hathaway and Dewitt get the most opportunities to shine, but Irwin and Winger do wonders in their smaller roles as the parents. Winger, in particular, is devastating.

My only complaint is a big one -- an edict must be passed in Hollywood banning directors from filming entire movies with hand-held cameras. The trend is cliché and over. No, it does not add "realism" to a film. It merely distracts from all of the other elements that are good enough to stand on their own without the gimmickry. The cinematography was much less obtrusive in this film than in some others I can name, but it still served as a liability, not an asset.

Grade: A

two good performances

[SnoopyStyle · 7/10 · 11 March 2016]

Kym Buchman (Anne Hathaway) gets out of drug rehab temporarily after nine months to attend her sister Rachel (Rosemarie DeWitt)'s wedding. She is brought back by her father Paul (Bill Irwin) and Carol (Anna Deavere Smith). Paul is divorced from her mother Abby (Debra Winger). The wedding is taking place at the family home. Rachel forces Emma to surrender the maid of honor to Kym. The general chaos and Kym's trouble dealing with her situation starts taking its toll. Despite resentment from all sides and a truly sad history, they never stop being a family.

Everybody has had to deal with a wedding whether it's their's or friend or family's. Jonathan Demme brings that sense to the screen. The acting is first rate especially by Hathaway and DeWitt. There is one scene with Debra Winger and Hathaway that goes over board. I think the mother is handled wrongly in that section. The confrontation should be cut out and she should have a better heart to heart after the wedding. The last act is generally low energy with a wedding montage and cleaning up. That's why it needs something amazing from Winger.

Calling a SPADE a SPADE

[mrblimp · 3/10 · 30 November 2008]

Ten minutes into watching this movie I was thinking: how much longer will this last? This film sort of reminded me of the time my neighbor brought their daughter's wedding video over and, to my wife's embarrassment, I fast forwarded thru the ceremony, in front of them. By that ten minute timeframe I was already thinking how this is like the worst possible wedding video experience you could have ever lived thru - combining the bad wedding video with the pre dinner and all the other new age wedding experiences that have developed in the years since I attended my first wedding, at the age of 6 when I was the ring bearer at my cousin's wedding. During the pre dinner scene I just wanted to hit the fast forward button and get to the drug addict sister's speech -a bit of crappy standup that quickly turned into the very flat climax of the scene - which I already figured was going to be her chance to embarrass herself and her family while ostracizing everyone else.

The hand held camera work, changing film quality and grain, and the MTV hectic editing style totally removed any possibility that I might have been immersed in the "film experience", that thing that films are designed to do. Plus the story line was way too flawed, like how is it only the ex-addict daughter realizes the mother shouldn't have left a known drug addict to babysit a child (BIG), or, how come the daughter ends up with a split lip from a smack down with her mother but the mom doesn't get even a bruise from the daughter's Mike Tyson punch to her kisser (MINOR) during a scene where the mother erupts into complete anger while telling her daughter she killed her brother. Here's my take: cold and indifferent mom who had long lost any maternal feelings to her children was already having an affair with her soon to be new husband and left drug addict daughter with son while she snuck off for a quickie, tellingly shown in her priority to leave the wedding to take care of her husband's travel arrangements in the face of her daughter's clearly expressed need for some motherly interaction.

The PC attendance to the Diversity detail was too obvious and annoyingly in your face, leaving me to contemplate what Diverse element may have been excluded, and leaving me with the impression that I had just seen a bad film about a wedding that should have made number 1 on one of those TV reality shows about the world's most horribly designed theme weddings.

As to the acting, Rachel, the soon to be husband, real dad and mom, step mom and dad, and all of the other supporting actors and actresses were all played quite well, to the point where one would expect that all of those people were probably just like that in real life. Anne Hathaway's performance was just as good though it didn't leave me believing anything other than that she was an actress playing a role, which was probably more because of the writing than anything else. I sort of had the feeling that Lumet idea for character development for this role didn't go beyond what would happen at a wedding where one of the daughters was a drug addict who had previously killed her brother.

What would have made this film good would have been if it were a documentary, a real documentary, not a film, falling incredibly short of attempting to be . . .

A Wedding and Debra Winger

[littlemartinarocena · 8/10 · 4 October 2008]

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

Uneven, which means the best parts are really gripping ensemble acting gems

[secondtake · 6/10 · 17 January 2010]

Rachel Getting Married (2008)

A highly naturalistic view of an upscale, hyper multi-culti wedding, mostly in the two days leading up to it, and with an intense family tragedy giving the three or four main characters their psychological edge. It's intense, believable, fascinating. It also sometimes gets stuck in its own realism by staying too long with one moment, as if the slight boredom and repetition is part of being there.

Director Demme goes for slightly off kilter movies, unsentimental, using straight ahead filming and honest acting (Silence of the Lambs, Philadelphia), but here, maybe more than ever, he recreates normal reality with practiced artfulness. Of course, "practiced artfulness" is a clumsy phrase on purpose, not a great goal, and the result, the movie as a whole, is imperfect in its arch through the long weekend. Most of all, I think it depends on the subtle, often amazing emotional depths of the characters, for their own sake. The big reason for the interpersonal conflicts is convincing, for sure, but is just a tool for exploring the present, a decade after the tragedy. And so, oddly, the wedding itself doesn't matter, and it gets in the way, the wildly multi-cultural scene stealing the show from what we are meant to be immersed in.

Anne Hathaway is a favorite of mine, and she pulls off her self-obsessed, rehab-bound character with a perfect push-pull, not too over the top except now and then, as if to make her control clear. The rest follow in her path, with some stellar smaller parts, and some adequate ones. At its best, even without insight, it will totally grab you.

This Film Serves No Discernible Purpose

[elena-l-adams · 1/10 · 8 May 2009]

I'm currently trying to get through the reception dancing scene. I'm so very close to turning this movie off, but wanted to check the IMDb ratings before making a decision. I wish I'd done that before starting it.

This film just seems to go on forever. I thought it was going to be an interesting look into a family struggling with addiction. It appears to have nothing to say whatsoever.

Kym's story doesn't resonate with me at all. All the characters are selfish and two-dimensional, and I can't believe that people in the real world speak the way they do. Oh, and I honestly thought Sydney must have been mentally challenged for the first half of the movie. They seem like the most unlikely couple. On top of that the multicultural wedding bonanza isn't rich and wonderful, but rather trite and shallow: a pathetic attempt by a spoiled rich kid to show she's a woman of the world.

Other reviewers have complained about the camera work, and I must agree. It is actually making me nauseous. It doesn't feel "real", it feels lazy.

There isn't a single thing in this film that stands out. The story could do with some serious editing, and the directing is a scrambled mess. Maybe if it were half the length and shot without the stupid hand held camera it would have a chance.

Don't bother with this one.

Good movie, could have been really good.

[nascentt · 7/10 · 11 February 2009]

Anne Hathaway is getting a lot of praise for her role in this movie, and that was my primary reason for watching this movie.

She deserves the praise and indeed she is good in this role, but this is a review about the movie and not about Anne so: The movie's not bad, it's basically a hand-held camera point of view of Kim (Anne Hathaway) getting out of rehab for her sister's wedding. My problem with this movie is Kim's not in it enough. What I mean by that is there are many scenes (long scenes) that exclude her character, trying to bring the atmosphere for the wedding to the movie, reminding the viewer that Kim's not the most important thing in the world and that everyone else exists in this wedding mode regardless. The problem is they take you out of the movie pretty much every time, they go on for too long, there's about 10 minutes straight of music and dancing at one point.

I understand the point of reminding the viewer that life exists out of Kim's world and thus scenes without her make sense, but the movie would have been better if it were almost entirely portrayed from Kim's point-of-view and some scenes capture it perfectly, such as Rachel taking her father to another room to talk, or scenes with people crying after Kim has left the room etc.. but there are a few scenes that just don't fit.

This movie isn't the best thing ever, the hand-held cam - while it works for these point-of-view type movies - takes you out of the movie at points, where the camera is watching a character (usually Kim) and then decides to start roaming around.

There's a particular scene that is done really well where Kim is watching a car leave, and instead of the standard effect of a camera focusing on the car with the character's head and neck out of focus but still taking up a large amount of the screen, perhaps with a soft focus onto the character at the end of the scene, in this particular scene they focus solely on Kim's neck while the camera continues to track the car leaving. I think this scene is what I would have liked from all the scenes I didn't like, where instead of people dancing and singing for ages and ages after Kim has left the scene, instead if it were more from Kim's point of view it might have fit more.

Anyway, this movie is still decent, and definitely worth a watch, but if the hand-held was used a little less, and the scenes mentioned above were removed or done differently, it would have gained an extra 2 start from me.

The Dramamine Wedding

[morbeda · 6/10 · 10 November 2009]

"Rachel Getting Married" is one of those films that leaves you (if you don't leave it first, as I did) with a burning desire to find the director of photography (Declan Quinn), give him a thorough shake, and shout in his face, "WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?!!!" What possible artistic pretension could lead a photographer and director to destroy every ounce of potential by an overused, overworked, unoriginal, seen-it-a-zillion-times style of shooting? Weren't they confident enough to trust the writing and acting with producing the claustrophobia and panic of acute family dysfunction? While the viewer is desperately searching for her dramamine pills, the camera is reeling from side to side, jumping every which way, assaulting the actors with suffocating close-ups--and repeating this cinematic mannerism literally ad nauseam. Stay away.. unless you're a trained pilot and can take motion sickness well.

married to unpleasant reality

[lee_eisenberg · 8/10 · 6 September 2010]

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.

too much wedding, not enough Kym

[graycat-1 · 7/10 · 9 February 2009]

There is a far more serious film just beneath the surface of Rachel Getting Married. It involves sexual abuse, anorexia, maternal neglect, and paternal and sibling denial. It is clear that we are expected to feel hopeful that Anne Hathaway's character Kym will recover sufficiently to escape to paradise(Hawaii). However, looking at the hints and subtext provided by Lumet and Demme it seems clear that Kym will struggle to transcend her family role as patsy. A role about which she is naturally ambivalent. Kym is a good girl and wants to please both her rehab councilors, her 12 step peers, and of course her criminally dysfunctional family. There are three scenes that suggest this other film. About 60 minutes in there is a scene at the hair dresser's with an unnamed ward mate from Loeb House who reveals Kym's response to the human mirror exercise. I think we are to understand that this is a coded rendition of the truth. Tellingly, Rachel storms off, calling the story a lie. Indeed, Kym denies any truth of the charges of sexual abuse to her father. Then there is the scene where Kym confronts her mother, confirms the substance of the story, and accuses her mother of neglect and insist she take some responsibility for the death of her younger brother. Her mother refuses, the scene concludes with physical abuse, that may or may not be a mirror of sexual abuse. Kym flees, and to make amends to her mother, attempts suicide. It is not a serious attempt. It is an act of contrition, not despair. Finally, there is the remarkable bathtub scene, where Rachel, full of forgiveness and approbation, infantilizes Kym by bathing her. Kym for her part makes another gesture of amends by shaving her arm pit. For me, the substance of this film lies here. The whole of the wedding and even the title seem acts of misdirection. It is not clear that Lumet and Demme are wholly aware of this subtext. If they are than the film fails for aesthetic reasons. If they are not than it is a failure of imagination.

Demme back in fine form and Hathaway with her first really fantastic performance

[Quinoa1984 · 9/10 · 25 October 2008]

This pitch-black-comedy-cum-drama, Rachel Getting Married, bucks two kinds of marriage movies that are fairly common in the two sides of release: one is the schmaltzy, dumb mainstream rom-com like Maid of Honor or The Wedding Planner where A-List actors go in the motions of a batch of conventions-by-checklist, and the other is a glum, mean indie picture like Margot at the Wedding (can't think of others right now like it's ilk, wouldn't want to). What helps it make it not just watchable, or appealing, but a very good movie, is the fact that the screenplay- by Sidney's daughter Jenny Lumet (as every critic has noted)- is very true to the tragic dimensions amid such a hectic weekend at a Connecticut, upper-middle class house where a wedding will take place with some bad memories and skeletons opened in the process.

In fact, for all of Jonathan Demme's efforts to give it a raw and spontaneous energy- he's said it's akin to Altman but I sensed more-so Cassavetes- his approach works best, even at a rough-edged masterful level, when characters are talking/arguing/yelling in a room. Lumet's story involves the title character (Rosemarie DeWitt) in a weekend where there's much happiness for her and her to-be-spouse, and a good lot of tension because of her sister, Kym (Hathaway), getting out of rehab for the weekend to come to the occasion.

To say she's the black sheep is somewhat sugar-coating it, and nearly every moment Hathaway is on camera (or, somewhat in the Altman mode, Demme manages to catch her off-guard in a moment or with a look) is electrifying, by far her best performance if only because she finally has a character to really dig her 'acting' heels into. It could be very easy, too easy, to make it a walking/bitching cliché, but Hathaway finds those moments, especially off of DeWitt or in one important scene with Debra Winger as her absentee mother, to make it as honest as possible. Although she is just one part of the component of the ensemble- what Demme focuses as an ensemble- it makes the film all the more remarkable than without her playing this troubled young woman with a past that puts a dark cloud over everyone around her.

And around this theme of too much or ill-placed love in a family that should be nothing but happiness, Demme makes it both warm and sad in equal measure. Maybe I'm more of a sucker for harrowing familial scenes or a solid hand-held argument ala Husbands and Wives, but those come off a bit better than the bigger scenes of fun and excitement and enjoyment in the actual wedding proceedings. But just a bit - Demme's approach comes somewhere in the range of a home movie and, once or twice, reality TV, and it's a quality that, when not overboard, is really refreshing and inviting. Demme is fascinated by this multi-cultural group, with its eclectic music and irreproachable camaraderie, and he asks us to be fascinated and enjoy it with the characters. This is the only tricky part of the picture, but one I wasn't daunted by; there's a real "indie-movie" spark here that's indescribable.

At the end of it all, I'll remember Rachel Getting Married more as an exceptional experiment than a truly great film, but anyone completely sick of seeing ads for sappy marriage comedies or films that treat the families or people gearing up for a wedding like paper figures would do themselves a favor seeking it out. It is, in a square enough word, lively.

Hathaway is flawed, yet incredibly flawless in a film that brings something new to an overdone genre

[The_Amazing_Spy_Rises · 7/10 · 20 October 2008]

While I certainly will give Rachel Getting Married for bringing something new to the table, admittedly this "dysfunctional family deals with drama before a wedding" plot has been done way too many times. However, Jonathan Demme's take on the subject is refreshing, well done, and astonishingly original. Despite this, the film is nothing without Anne Hathaway.

The film basically is an ensemble drama with some light hearted moments, but just as many, if not more heavy hearted moments. It follows two families becoming one at the wedding of Rachel and Sidney, and Rachel's sister Kym (Hathaway), a recovering drug addict, is returning home for the first time in some years.

One thing that really stands out to me is the feel and atmosphere of the film. I really felt like I was there at the wedding, apart of everything and becoming involved in the situations at hand, and I credit this all to Jonathan Demme. He did a great job in the director's chair. The film almost feels like a documentary of sorts, with the way the film is shot (mostly with a hand held camera), and the way the sound is dispersed really made me feel like I was there.

Of course, the film has many strengths, but none come close to the star and probably the driving force behind the picture, Anne Hathaway. I seriously doubt the film would've been made had she not signed on to the film, because the rest of the cast besides Debra Winger are completely unknown and the premise is unoriginal. Hathaway's stunning turn as the tortured, lost, and tainted Kym is riveting. You can't keep your eyes off her (and it has nothing to do with her looks). Hathaway's maturity as an actress really shows. In the hands of a lesser performer, the character could've become comical, but Hathaway knows when to yell, when to cry, and how to look. Despite her flaws, we can't help but love Kym and side with her in every scene. It's a stunning performance that should be recognized at the Oscars.

Fortunately, Hathaway is not the only one who delivers a performance that could bring home the Oscar gold, as Rosemarie DeWitt is nothing short of brilliant in the title role as the 'neglected' member of the family. She's raw, confrontational, and wears her emotions on her sleeves, yet remains likable and we can identify with her as well as Hathaway. Debra Winger is also good in limited screen time, but I don't see where all the Oscar buzz for her is coming from. DeWitt deserves recognition more than Winger does.

I've got some complaints, mostly with the pacing of the film. It felt disjointed and random at parts, and somewhat formulaic by bouncing from a Hathaway subplot, to a touching family subplot, back to Hathaway, and so on. It got a bit repetitive after awhile. The emotional climax of the film, while potent, was a tad bit predictable and formulaic. I also felt that the end of the film dragged a bit. It was as if the film wanted to drive home "this is how we want you to feel, so we can make the next scene work", but they kept going and going until I had lost almost all interest.

All in all, Rachel Getting Married is a film that does a lot of things right, few things wrong, and gets a lot of credit for providing a fresh look at the typical "dysfunctional family at wedding" film. Hathaway and DeWitt are Oscar worthy, and Demme should get some buzz too. If you like an emotional roller-coaster of a drama, then give this one a try.

horrible cheesy arse jive as all get out movie with Benetton ad cast in a wine cooler ad texture just add shaky cam!

[marymorrissey · 1/10 · 26 December 2008]

so interminable! why in the hell did we have to watch so many of the dances following the wedding. ooh now they're getting' Funkay!! now they're feelin the world beat! now they're doing the "she's too fat for me" polka! oh wait I guess there was no polka. I took a few bathroom breaks during this film cause it I couldn't bear it. there was a whole set of non characters whose names we didn't even know who were just there as some kind of wallpaper to show off how 'cool' this rich family is because oh wow they've from absolutely every color of the rainbow. so much hokey scentimentality. and the dishwasher loading scene was just so stupid and then ... oh no! someone forgot to throw away the little dead tykes designer plate and it gets stacked and in a flash the whole party atmosphere is dissipated how contrived how embarrassing how can they make movies like this. Clearly those making this film thought they were making another "the celebration" (not a favorite of mine, but this movie makes it look like a masterpiece). they weren't.

And you thought your family had problems?

[Passionate_Gal · 8/10 · 16 March 2009]

****This may contain minor spoilers**** The Storyline: Wow, this movie is a revelation. I mean everybody is all "It's about a junkie and her sister's wedding." Well I disagree.

This movie it's about a family trying to struggle against a tragedy that happened several years ago. And how the blame of that said tragedy lies on the shoulders of our lead character Kym, and how she seeks for attention and forgiveness the wrong way, which makes her create a catastrophe days before her sister's wedding.

The wedding represents harmony, a moment to share with your family and friends. But in order to get there you need to get over all the problems and differences you have with them. Kym was not able to do so, first she never forgave herself for what happened to her brother, and second with people treating you like crap and not able to forgive you makes the first one more difficult.

This movie was written so beautifully and the way it was directed and acted make it one great journey into their world, very personal; it felt like you were just another guest feeling awkward because they were trying to fix their issues with you watching.

The characters: It was very easy to understand and sympathize with Kym, at first you think she is just a rebel kid playing the "no one understands me" card, but after she tells all her partners in rehab about her brother you just want to get up and hug her.

To me Rachel (the sister) was a complete immature, she was suppose to be a Psychologist right? So then how come it was so hard for her to understand her sister? I know girls want their wedding to be about them, and they will freak out if someone tries to steal their thunder from them that day (That's what we learn from Annie the last time we saw her on the big screen, right?) But come on! The father was just trying to hard, paying way to much attention to Kym and protecting her, that made it come all the way around, which was his true feelings; unable to trust Kym.

The mother was just a b!tch. It was obvious that she just ran away from her misery life and left her family, not making herself capable to go step by step trying to move on. And it was obvious she never regretted that. Not wanting to be part of the wedding and for me it just felt she was there because she had to.

The Groom was just perfect, he stood by her fiancé every moment, was very supportive and neutral not taking sides.

I also want to add something; everybody complains about how long some scenes were; the rehearsal dinner, specially the toast scene, about the dishwasher scene, and how Kym blame mom for everything.

The toast scene was a bit long, there were too many people taking and it was just use to learn more about the background of the family. It could have been shorter though.

I completely disagree with the dishwasher scene, that scene just show us that they did love each other and were happy about the wedding and enjoyed their selves as family, but that little thing in their past will always be there and will never let them be what they wanted to be.

And that scene with Kym and her mom was the best of the movie. Kym didn't go there to fight her mom and blame her, she went there first because she had no other place to go, and about when she asked why she left her son with a junkie, she was not blaming her mother, she wanted her mom to tell her that there was good in her and that she loved her and trusted her, that she was her daughter and she never saw her like a junkie, in other words, she was looking for sympathy from her mom.

Last but not least, Anne Hathaway was at her best here.

I have to be honest I only watched this film because she was on it. And I'm glad she was, because this movie is a must watch, and if it wasn't for her I would've never watch it.

Excellent film sabotaged by execrable camera work

[Carl_Tait · 7/10 · 19 October 2008]

Remember how your dad used to shoot Super 8 movies in the 1970s with an unsteady hand and too much zooming? Remember how they invented this thing called a "video camera" many years ago that has all but eliminated this atrocious style from even the most amateurish home videos? It remains one of the great mysteries of modern movie-making why anyone would think this faux-amateur, nauseating camera technique should be considered a "realistic" style of film-making. In fact, the technique is hopelessly self-conscious and a major distraction.

And this is a shame because "Rachel Getting Married" is generally an excellent film, aside from its enthusiastically awful camera work. It is a deeper, more focused version of Altman's "A Wedding" with more damaged and interesting characters. The acting is fine throughout, especially Anne Hathaway as the unstable sister who maintains a curious likability despite her destructive nature.

Oh, yes: the wedding scene desperately needed cutting. There was an endless, increasingly loud and annoying sequence of musical numbers featuring half of the known genres on Earth. Where was the band of Highland bagpipers?

Despite the flaws, this is a strong film. It could have been an outstanding one.

So boring - like being forced to attend the wedding from hell!

[flickernatic · 2/10 · 27 January 2009]

I was attracted to this movie by the story - troubled addict, Kym, is plunged into a family wedding - and the prospect of an exceptional performance from Anne Hathaway. As it turned out, she was about the only thing worth seeing, and even then she seemed to be struggling under the weight of the director's (and writer's) pretensions. Apart from the shambolic camera work, presumably meant to reflect the tensions between the stereotyped 'characters', the mumbled dialogue (tho' this improved as the film progressed) and poor continuity (Kym crashes her mother's car into a large rock but later we see her stepping from the recovery truck with the car towed behind without a mark), this movie ignores the basic requirement of dramatic film-making - to tell a convincing story in a taught and engaging way. Too often we were exposed to long, dreary sequences that served no dramatic purpose. It seemed as if the makers' ran out of material with another hour of time to fill, so we got interminable shots of people dancing, excruciating wedding speeches, a bizarre dishwasher-filling contest, etc. We came close to walking out of this turkey, and if we'd had an aisle seat we would have done. So if you're bored and thinking of taking in this movie, stay home - at least you won't have paid for your dismal evening.

Insufferable

[Anyahita · 2 July 2021]

Jonathan Demme's obvious failed attempt at trying to be Lars Von Trier.

Anne's character (Kym) was incredibly insufferable, self-centered and obnoxious. It was really hard for me to sympathize with her and felt irked throughout the whole movie. Her toast ''speech'' to Rachel was incredibly cringe inducing and screamed ''me me me''. Not to mention the unnecessary long shots of the wedding lacking any kind of substance or intrigue.

This movie's message is basically: It doesn't matter if you're an incredibly toxic person, killed your baby brother, burned down your family's house,stole money from them, make up despicable lies and basically make your sister's wedding all about your toxic self, fAmiLy wiLL alWaYs bE fAmiLy.

Yeah I don't think so.