Rachel Getting Married

2008’s “Rachel Getting Married”, directed by Jonathan Demme.

Starring Anne Hathaway, Rosemarie DeWitt, Bill Irwin, Tunde Adebimpe, Anna Deavere Smith, Debra Winger, Victoria Haynes, Mather Zickel.

Nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress (Hathaway).

To many, weddings are a special time, to celebrate the union of 2 people and consummate their love. They’re also the perfect way to cram a bunch of people into a building together and have them work through the sheer ugliness that can be family dynamics. Paced over the course of a weekend, we see Hathaway getting released on a weekend pass from an addictions centre, and going to her childhood home where Hathaway’s sister (De Witt) is getting married. Packed full of family members and friends, we witness the various parts of a wedding weekend as Hathaway and her family weave through their web of chaotic enmeshment. Rampantly self absorbed while chain smoking, Hathaway cranks up the asshole factor- perfectly befitting the movie’s title: we’re here for Rachel, but it’s a major inconvenience to our protagonist Hathaway’s recovery program. But thanks to Hathaway’s great work, we also feel for her, freshly discharged from treatment and struggling with her addiction and various triggers, uncomfortable in her own skin. We learn about the horrific events that lead up to her going to treatment, and see that the family doesn’t know if it can give anymore to support her while trying to mend their own wounds from her actions.

Demme’s handheld approach is the perfect tool for giving us the at times clumsy feeling that we’re a member of this very loving but conflict filled group, celebrating an amazingly ethnic wedding with a backyard feeling of intimacy. Helping his cause is clever editing that keeps us from feeling the lulls of reality so present when people are public speaking, and increasing the feeling of anything goes spontaneity. Jenny Lumet’s script is perfect in it’s authentic portrayal of a family- equally jam packed with awkward silences and explosions. We watch parents, siblings, and best friends who want to help, participate, and love, but whom can be shoved aside and raged against, disconnected from the impossibly complex principles of a recovering addict. DeWitt and Irwin are particularly fantastic here, as the bride sister and father of both respectively, with DeWitt constantly trying to steal the spotlight back for her wedding weekend, and Irwin being unbelievable in his honesty, sincerity, and constant gustatory offerings. There’s also some great characters in the periphery, so essential to every wedding: the weirdo uncle type who makes conjugal sex comments, the brother-in-law clad in military uniform that looks like he’s never fired a weapon in his life, the mute guy in a fedora… So many movies regarding weddings feel unrealistic and forced, which is why “Rachel” is such a treat: it cuts a lot more than cake, and it’s heartwarming intimacy is worth an RSVP.

4.5/5

Trailer: Click Here.