Rachel Getting Married

Review by Sean Lynch

It's not uncommon to see big name Hollywood actors repeating themselves in an attempt to capture lightning in a bottle.

Hell, Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson have played different variations of the same character and plots for the better part of a decade now.

But what is strange to see is an actor taking the plunge and not just choosing a role that is completely off their normal radar (ie: candy coated family friendly rom coms) - but choosing an identical genre and turning it's on it's head.

You see, Rachel Getting Married is Bride Wars without the wacky orchestral music, and it isn't so finely packaged and honed that it resembles an iPod.

It's rough, it's real and it's downright depressing.

This brave turn from Anne Hathaway is exactly what the doctor ordered in order to clean the "sell-out" off her skin after Bride Wars.

She often borders on unlikable, and even unappealing in a role that is likely to challenge your own stance on addiction and depression within your own world.

Rachel Getting Married  is a contemporary drama with an aggressively dark sense of humor which follows the return of an estranged (ex-drug addict) daughter to the family home for her sister's wedding.

Kym's reemergence throws a wrench into the family dynamics, forcing long-simmering tensions to surface.

It's a well crafted, nuanced portrait of family life, filled with the rich type of characters which have always seemed to have been a trademark of Jonathan Demme's films.

Much like the the music laced throughout the film (there isn't a hint of a traditional score, it's all neatly weaved from sounds within the characters world) the film has such a unique, natural and endearing (if not slightly raw) rhythm.

However, much like a real wedding, Rachel Getting Married also seems to go on for slightly longer than it should - stretching out for those few precious moments past when the fun actually finishes.

By no means a date movie and in no way will it have you leaving the cinema with a smile of your face - but it's a different cinematic experience that makes you feel angry, uncomfortable and emotionally drained... which probably means Demme has crafted himself a decent film.

4 out of 5

Rachel Getting Married
Australian release: 12th February, 2009
Official Site: Rachel Getting Married
Cast: Anne Hathaway, Rosemarie DeWitt, Mather Zickel, Bill Irwin
Director:  Jonathan Demme