Rachel Getting Married (Sony Picture Classics)
Call Off the Wedding
Rachel Getting Married is the movie that will jump start Anne Hathaways career as a dramatic actress and might just cause renewed interest in Debra Winger. Both of these actresses are excellent in this film. The movie itself is another story. It is so loud and boisterous that you can barely hear people speak above the din, and the people involved are so dysfunctional that you never feel involved in the movie.
At the start of the movie Kym (Hathaway) is getting out of rehab. She is headed to her fathers home where the entire clan has gathered for her sister Rachels (Rosemarie DeWitt) wedding. Her father (Bill Irwin) and his second wife (Anna Deavere Smith) are very welcoming to Kym but her father is a tad overprotective.
Rachel is marrying into a loud, raucous family and each of these people has something loud to say. Kym is a little overwhelmed and has to fight to make herself heard. But each time she asserts herself she and Rachel get into an argument. Its a sister thing.
Then there is the case of their mother Abby (Winger). She breezes in late for the rehearsal dinner and seems to be above all the hubbub. She has little to say and virtually ignores Kym. When certain facts emerge later in the movie the audience finds out why there is an estrangement.
Nothing in the film is ever resolved and so all the chest beating and confessionals are wasted. The wedding proceeds and the people stay the same. Well maybe they get louder and more annoying.
Hathaway is excellent in her role as the damaged Kym. She is light years away from her role in The Princess Diaries. She manages to convey Kyms fears, anxieties and wishes in a way that makes her character appealing and sympathetic.
Winger steals the show as Abby. Whatever it is that you need to be a presence in a film, she has it. You spend the first half of the movie anticipating her arrival, and when she gets there you are not disappointed. She has very few scenes in the film but she certainly makes an impact.
There is also solid work done by Rosemarie DeWitt. Her Rachel is the catalyst for every action and reaction from Kym. Rachel is not the best written role in the movie but DeWitt does everything possible with it.
The film is rated R for profanity.
This is a movie about a dysfunctional family and it gets its point across in scenes of shouting, mumbling, and people talking over each other. Then there is the incessant music that keeps playing in the background. When the father finally tells the group of players to shut up I wanted to shout hallelujah.
Rachel Getting Married is worth seeing because of the acting, but the story is another story altogether.
I scored Rachel Getting Married a vowed 5 out of 10.
