Movie Review: Rachel Getting Married, starring Anne Hathaway and Debra Winger

Running Time: 1 hr. 51 min.

Release Date: October 17th, 2008

MPAA Rating: R for language and brief sexuality.

Director: Jonathan Demme

Actors: Anne Hathaway, Debra Winger, Bill Irwin, Tunde Adebimpe, Anna Deavere Smith

"The best thing about Rachel Getting Married is the wedding itself."

There are two things that are common, reoccurring topics in movies--weddings and family dysfunction. Not always synonymous in real life yet when put together on screen they seem to make for some pretty good drama or comedy, as the case may be.

Rachel Getting Married contains both: a weekend wedding amongst friends and the not-so-perfect family in the middle of it all. Rachel (Rosemarie DeWitt) may be the one getting married but her little sister, Kym (Ann Hathaway), who’s just gotten out of rehab, doesn’t like suddenly being the one not getting all the attention. But soon-to-be wed Rachel has spent her whole life being her father Paul’s (Bill Irwin) second best and doesn’t intend on spending her wedding weekend in anyone's shadow, especially her pampered sister’s.

Kym was a teenage fashion model who grew up way faster than any little girl should. She became alcohol and drug addicted at an early age and has been trying to control it ever since. Kym was also responsible many years ago for a family tragedy that no one’s recovered from either, so needless to say, this is where the bulk of the family dysfunction comes from. When we meet Kym she is freshly released from the hospital and four steps into her 12-step program--perhaps not the best of time to attend a family wedding.

Rachel is marrying Sidney (Tunde Adebimpe), a black musician from Hawaii who is a perfect fit not only for Rachel but also for the entire family. Along with Sidney for the wedding weekend are his immediate family and friends and his best man, Kieran (Mather Zickel). Matthew also just happens to be a recovering addict and has full knowledge of the 12-steps it takes to become "normal" again. Last but not least is the sisters’ estranged mother, Abby (Debra Winger), who has remarried but remained distant from her daughters.

There in the countryside of Connecticut they all gather, along with family and friends, to celebrate a marriage. Yet in the middle of it all is a family on the verge of destruction. The best thing about Rachel Getting Married is the wedding itself. It is an amazing ceremony that makes me want to get married all over again. All weddings, including mine, unfortunately, pale in comparison to Rachel and Sidney's. It is a party filled with friends, family, food, drink and music that are as diverse as those in attendance. This untraditional party is so alive with color and sound that the filmmaker practically put the audience right in the middle of it to celebrate with the cast. Musicians Robyn Hitchcock and Sister Carol even show up to perform, though they are never properly introduced to us.

Director Jonathan Demme has made a small masterpiece while at the same time reinventing himself as a filmmaker. Demme has always had an independent soul even while making major blockbuster films for Hollywood. During the 70s he made B-movies like Caged Heat (1974) but during the 80s made some of the most interesting films that decade had to offer like Something Wild (1986) and Married To the Mob (1988). He won an Oscar for his direction in The Silence of the Lambs (1991) and broke barriers with his AIDS drama Philadelphia (1993). Demme has also made terrific documentaries like Stop Making Sense (1984), Swimming To Cambodia (1987), and the recent Jimmy Carter--Man From Plains (2007). The film biography of Demme has never been boring. He is an artist who loves music almost as much as film and always finds a way to fuse the two together.

The buzz for this film, however, falls on Anne Hathaway and her terrific portrayal playing the prodigal daughter. She is great and her performance is worth the hype. In her first real adult role, she succeeds wonderfully. She is no longer the Disney Princess or victim of the Devil in Prada. Rachel may be getting married but Hathaway is the star of this film celebration. This is not meant to take anything away from DeWitt, who is also very good, as is Debra Winger.

Come award season I suspect Hathaway and Winger will be recognized along with screenwriter, Jenny Lumet (Sidney Lumet's daughter), and maybe even Demme himself. Demme has made a very un-Demme-like film much in the vein of Robert Altman and Lars Von Trier. Rachel Getting Married isn't perfect but it felt like it along the way.

- David Malsch