Movies about wedding preparations that are fraught with one disaster after another are nothing new. They tend to be comedies; they usually feature an ex-boyfriend who shows up out of the blue or a new better guy shows up to make the future husband less appealing; and they tend to never actually feel like any wedding that could ever take place in any civilized nation. So it's to this movie's credit, and in particular legendary director Jonathan Demme, that he has created one of the most engrossing and realistic portrayals of a family mere hours before the eldest daughter goes through her nuptials. Not that everything goes off without a hitch. What kinda movie would this be if there weren't problems? Major problems.
Crisis comes in the form of younger sister, Kym, played brilliantly by Anne Hathaway. Kym is the typical wild child of the family. A former model, Kym has found herself in and out of rehab for the better part of ten years. Now she's released to attend the wedding of her sister Rachel, and with her come years of pent up anger and tons of emotional baggage waiting to be dropped at everyone's doorstep. It's no coincidence that one of Kym's first acts is to knock over a bunch of chairs, causing a loud ruckus that disturbs the entire room, because that's exactly what she represents. She is the 800 pound gorilla, except the gorilla refuses to stay quiet, chain smokes, and is just a teeeeeeny bit selfish. Oh, and the gorilla is a bit of a drama queen. Kym can't enter a room without making everything about herself. A pivotal dinner scene in which guests are all singing the praises of the couple-to-be ends with Kym turning it into a stage for her to talk about her 12 Step Program.
Not that Kym is totally at fault. The entire family has enough issues to form a complete subscription. The sister, Rachel, played by Rosemarie Dewitt and practically steals the show, nurses a grudge like a baby nurses a bottle of warm milk. With a sister as time consuming to her parents as Kym must've been, Rachel has obvious problems with having that same sister stealing the attention away from her big moment. Rachel, a studying psychologist, is analytical where Kym is impetuous. The father is overprotective of Kym, which angers Rachel, yet Kym wants him to leave her alone. Their stepmother doesn't appear to do much other than watch from the sidelines, perhaps afraid to step into such deep rooted family squabbles. The girls' mother, played by Debra Winger, embraces Rachel but keeps Kym at arms length for an unknown reason. I won't spoil that reason here, but let's just say it comes to a head at a critical juncture of the film.
Demme mixes just enough tension here to keep the film exciting without devolving into cliche territory. He also has found a way to coax every bit of believability out of his cast, who are almost all extraordinary here. Tunda Adebimpe, who some might know from a little gem of a film called "Jump Tomorrow" fits in perfectly as Rachel's future husband. Somehow, former Yo MTV Raps host Fab 5 Freddy shows up here in an unheralded role as a guest. But it was Rosemarie Dewitt and Anne Hathaway who steal the show. Hathaway plays Kym as a firecracker, set to go off at anytime. She's practically a whirlwind of emotions, equally self-involved, verbally abusive, and yet obviously loving of her family all at the same time. Dewitt's performance is less showy, but she has a tougher balancing act. Show too much anger and Rachel comes off as someone we don't even want to see be happy, which would destroy the entire film. Instead, she gets it just right. I hadn't heard of Rosemarie Dewitt before, but knew I recognized her face. She was in the very VERY short lived series Standoff on Fox alongside Ron Livingston.
Completely filmed by hand held camera, this feels like a genuine slice-of-life look at a singular event in these people's lives. This is one of those films where the digital look fits perfectly with the nature of the story. It feels very organic, not just a technique to show how cool the director can be. It makes sense. The same goes with the score of the film, which is noticeable in almost every scene at the house but isn't distracting. In fact, the only time in which the music does become a problem Demme seems to realize it also, and the music is abruptly halted.
I don't want to seem as if this movie is perfect. There are a couple of slower scenes, but every scene feels necessary and would hurt the film if removed. I also take some issue with Debra Winger's portrayal, as the mom never quite feels as real as the rest of the characters. She has a scene later on in the film that is completely unbelievable.
Perfect date film, and another notch in the legendary career of Jonathan Demme. I fully expect a lot of accolades to come down in the form of Best Actress nominations for Anne Hathaway and possibly Rosemarie Dewitt in the Supporting category. Hopefully people will give this film a much deeper look when Oscar season comes around.
7/10
