Reviewed by Stuart O'Connor
Stars Anne Hathaway, Rosemarie DeWitt, Mather Zickel,
Bill Irwin, Anna Deavere Smith, Anisa George,
Debra Winger, Tunde Adebimpe
Written by Jenny Lumet
Certification UK 15 | US R
Runtime 113 minutes
Directed by Jonathan Demme
Filmmakers love a wedding, don't they? I've lost count of how many wedding-based films there have been over the years. There's always lots of scope for some great drama, or sidesplitting comedy. But what we have here is a wedding film that is not really a film about a wedding – the wedding is simply the background for the story of a dysfunctional family.
It's also the character study of a young woman and her struggle with addiction. Kym (the beautiful Hathaway) has just emerged from nine months in rehab, and has come home for the wedding of her sister, Rachel (DeWitt). Kym is, to put it blunty, a selfish and self-centred attention seeker who soon comes to dominate the weekend's proceedings. Old sores are reopened, sisterly rivalries re-emerge, and feelings that have long been held in check rise to the surface. The film is full of flawed by sympathetic characters, with none better or more interesting than Kym – a complex and complicated woman, brought wonderfully to life by Hathaway.
Rachel Getting Married shows just what an accomplished actor Hathaway – who, until now, has been best known for more lightweight, Disney-ish fare - has grown into. She shows that she is much, much more than just a pretty face; it's a mature, adult performance that is truly worthy of an Oscar nomination. The film also sports a wonderful script from Jenny Lumet – daughter of director Sidney – and superb direction from Demme. Here's the man who brought us the terrifying Silence of the Lambs, bring a deft comic and deeply emotional touch to this bittersweet family drama. Rachel Getting Married is as good as the recent, similar (and truly awful) Margot at The Wedding is bad.