Rachel Getting Married: Breaking new ground

Written by Jonathan Schumann
Thursday, 02 October 2008 15:02

For several years, Jonathan Schumann contributed film reviews as part of the “Take Two” father-and-sons movie reviewer team. This week, his father Mark, the “Reel Dad,” steps aside to bring Jonathan back to the column for a guest appearance.

When legendary American director Robert Altman died, I was afraid we would lose his trademark narrative style as well. You know what I’m talking about — tons of characters wandering through a free-flowing narrative that defies conventional standards but still manages to be simultaneously tragic, hilarious, and heart-breaking. If you’re unfamiliar, Nashville and Short Cuts are a good place to start.

There are a few filmmakers still around who embody the Altman spirit — Paul Thomas Anderson of Magnolia and There Will Be Blood chief among them. With Rachel Getting Married, we can add Jonathan Demme, who has had the most unlikely of film careers, to that list. Demme was an American maverick in the 1980s with off-beat comedies Married to the Mob and Something Wild and is best remembered for the genre-bending thriller The Silence of the Lambs. But he’s been off the A-list since (no little thanks to his ill-advised remake of Charade, the embarrassing The Truth about Charlie).

He breaks new ground with this film, which follows Kim (Anne Hathaway) a fresh-out-of-rehab addict as she endures her sister’s wedding. Demme shoots the film with mostly handheld cameras and allows his actors to fumble dialogue and talk over each other. It feels like an intimate family gathering, rife with raw emotion, authentic dysfunction, and caustic humor.

Demme lets his characters to go through the motions of a hectic wedding weekend — preparations, rehearsal dinner, ceremony, after-party — without too much interference. His camera lingers as actors roll from room to room, engage in fleeting conversation, nosh on food, and sip on drinks. Kim slips attention-grabbing one-liners at inopportune moments, which quickly catches the wrath of her sister, the titular Rachel (Rosemarie DeWitt). Their father (Bill Irwin) plays peacemaker, while their mother (Debra Winger) makes fleeting, bruising appearances.

Movies like this depend on great actors. It became clear that Hathaway could do more than giggle through Disney live-action and fetch Meryl Streep’s coffee when she wowed in the small, pivotal role of a hardened Texas rodeo wife in Brokeback Mountain. But nothing suggested that she could pull off the attention-starved, terminally dysfunctional Kim. She portrays this potentially unlikable character with dignity, and imbues her with authentic, relatable pain. It’s a stirring, memorable turn.

It’s to the credit of the supporting cast that Hathaway doesn’t walk away with the film. Theater veteran Irwin, who was unforgettable the revival of Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf, is touching as Kim’s doting father and DeWitt makes a striking impression.

Video pick:

Looking for something to rent? Here is a suggestion inspired by Rachel Getting Married:

Margot at the Wedding: Few noticed when this film, Noah Baumbach’s follow-up to the exceptional The Squid and the Whale, opened last year. It stars Nicole Kidman as a bitter writer who struggles to endure her sister’s nuptials. It shares a common vibe and approach with Rachel Getting Married, but lacks the cohesion and heart. These aren’t faults — it’s a challenging, angry film, and represents a creative step forward for the up-and-coming Baumbach. Jennifer Jason Leigh (Baumbach’s wife in real life) stuns as Kidman’s vulnerable sister.