Chances are you still haven’t seen Jonathan Demme’s masterful Rachel Getting Married because it’s in limited release. Worth the $12.50 though–it’s the type of wedding story that takes you through every grueling moment of a couple’s impending nuptuals without ever wearing you down.
The script was penned by Jenny Lumet (Sydney’s daughter) and stars Anne Hathaway as fresh-out-of-rehab Kym, a bratty, frazzled, chain-smoking, 12-stepper, who comes home for her sister Rachel’s wedding. Rosemarie DeWitt (of Mad Men fame) gets her first meaty role playing big sister Rachel, Hathaway’s stable foil, who demands that the spotlight be on her, not self-centered Kym.
It seems like every major character (including divorced mom and dad played by Debra Winger and Bill Irwin, respectively) have demons haunting them. Jonathan Demme, best known for blockbusters like _Philadelphia_ and _Silence of the Lambs_, gets back to his humanist roots in this deeply personal and deeply affecting film. The drama is captured in long takes using a jumpy, handheld motion that enables the audience to feel as if it’s inhabiting the world of the story’s characters. At Kym’s 12-step meeting, I found myself engaged in each person’s sad story of addiction. Later, at the wedding rehearsal, Demme’s hard zoom-in and out made me feel like I was one of the guests. Troubled, self-indulgent characters like Kym can be uncomfortable to watch, but Demme’s stimulating visuals heighten the experience when she eventually does seem to grow.
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