RACHEL GETTING MARRIED (2008)

I literally had no idea what to expect with this film. It's one of those rare occasions where you sit down to watch something, that you have no pre-conceptions, no knowledge and therefore no idea whether you expect to enjoy it. The only thing I knew was that Anne Hathaway was in it and that this might have been her chance to show that she was a good actress and could rise above rom-coms like Bride Wars.



Hathaway plays Kim, a recovering drug addict who is allowed a respite from her rehab for a weekend at home for her sister's wedding (Rachel, played by Rosemarie DeWitt). The film plays out over the weekend as the dysfunctional family divides and heads to crisis point on the eve of the big day. The Princess Diaries this is clearly not and it is every bit as bleak as my brief synopsis suggests.

Not a great deal happens, it's people in a room talking and getting upset, so it's a good job the performances are right out of the top drawer. Hathaway is indeed fantastic and this film promises that she might be able to prove to be a big name in the future if she's a little braver about her film choices. Her portrayal of Kim is instantly believable, there is clearly a vulnerability there, but you sense that the problems that have plagued her are simmering under the surface and could resurface at any time. Her scenes of rehab are particularly convincing and when she loses it, she really does lose it. DeWitt is also very good, Rachel and Kim constantly at war throughout the film. Bill Irwin's was my favourite turn though as the father of the two sisters, always pained as he tries to ensure both are happy but knowing that their interests will always be conflicting. At one point he seems resigned to the family never being happy. I sense that this type of film must be a joy for an actor, a proper one that is. No blue screens and explosions to be added in post-production, this is just like treading the boards and bouncing off other actors. This film even more so as each character gets to go through the full range of emotions, there are smiles, tears, shouting matches and mournful looks into the distance.

So the acting is fantastic, a good cast given the opportunity to flex their thespian muscles in an open format with a decent script. So is this film an instant classic?

No, it's not.

Although I can appreciate the fine acting, I didn't feel connected to it. I'm a soppy so-and-so, this type of thing really should have me sniffling away but I wasn't even close. I think it's because the characters themselves, the father aside, had no redeemable qualities at all. Kim and Rachel were both terribly selfish and became increasingly bitchy as the film wore on. I had no inclination towards either of them and therefore didn't really care how the story was going to play out. I'm not suggesting that every character on screen should be likeable, but I just couldn't side with them. What irritated me further was that the film didn't have the belief in itself to carry this on to the end. Everyone involved seemed to have an epiphany in time for the wedding so everyone was smiles. It wasn't exactly a happy ending but everything was resolved. It was all too neat.

It's a well made film, Jonathan Demme (Silence of the Lambs and Philadelphia) has a good track record and it's clear that the material here is in safe hands. He uses a sort of handheld camera technique that you'd expect to see in horror films, but it works very well. You get the feeling that you shouldn't be there and that you really are intruding on someone else's wedding. The film also cleverly reveals plot points as the film progresses, it's never spelt out but you continue to learn of the past of the family.

It's also worth mentioning that the wedding itself is easily the most irritating wedding in the history of film, or civilization for that matter. Every guest had a role and it practically turned into America's Got Talent. I can't stand something as deliberately kooky as it was, the bride and groom serving the food themselves, plate by plate across the garden to the marquee? Please.

So, well acted, well made but ultimately a hollow experience.

Interesting but unsatisfying.