Movie Review: 'Rachel Getting Married' most moving film of year

Many filmmakers, from Alfred Hitchcock to Woody Allen to Martin Scorsese, have a certain stamp they put on their films that allows the viewer to recognize the origin of the work.

Then there's Jonathan Demme, who ranks in the handful of truly brilliant directors of his era, and he never makes the same film twice. His films range from performance pieces ("Stop Making Sense," "Swimming to Cambodia") to twisted comedy ("Something Wild") to earnest, socially conscious drama ("Philadelphia") to the Oscar-sweeping horror drama "The Silence of the Lambs."

His latest, "Rachel Getting Married," sees Demme veering off into yet another style. The look of the film borders on cinema verite, at times feels like a documentary and borrows inspiration from Lars von Trier's Dogma initiative style of moviemaking.

Demme's allies in this process are photography director Declan Quinn ("Leaving Las Vegas," "Breakfast on Pluto"), editor Tim Squyres ("Eat Drink Man Woman," "Syriana") and Jenny Lumet (daughter of director Sydney Lumet), making her debut as a screenwriter.

Then there's Anne Hathaway, last seen as Agent 99 in the "Get Smart" movie and best known for the "Princess Diaries" films. Hathaway stars - despite the title, Rachel is not the main character - as Kym, and she turns in a career-making performance.

Kym was a child model, and by her teens was addicted to painkillers and alcohol. We learn of a devastating tragedy in her family's life (no spoiler facts will be revealed in this review) and as the film opens, Kym is getting out of an extended stay at a rehab center to attend the wedding of her sister Rachel.

Weddings are prime fodder for screenplays. Demme borrows from two of the best: Robert Altman's "A Wedding" and Noah Baumbach's "Margot at the Wedding." But "Rachel Getting Married" is entirely its own film.

When Kym gets back to the family house, and as wedding rehearsals, dinners and preparations unfold, the dynamic between two sisters, their dad, stepmom and mom (played by Debra Winger in one of her best roles) slowly - at times painfully - unfolds.

What writer Lumet and director Demme manage to do is avoid clichés.

All of the characters are painted with fine detail. Kym and Rachel have incredibly personal arguments in one scene, and in the next we see them laughing together. It's ... hmm... just like real life.

Anyone who has been involved, or is familiar, with any "12-Step" program will be affected by Kym's sharing at one of hers.

Hathaway loses herself in the role.

The showpiece scene is in act two, wherein Kym, who has replaced Rachel's first choice for maid of honor duties, makes a speech at the rehearsal dinner. Everyone else made a speech, but Rachel and her groom to be didn't ask Kym to make one. But she does make one, and while at first it seems to be more about Kym than the wedding at hand, it adds much to the viewer's understanding of the family dynamic that is the very heart of the film.

The only problem I saw in "Rachel Getting Married" were the scenes of the wedding itself. It seemed the reception went on too long, and I really wanted to get to the final resolution. But that's a minor criticism, and I'm not going to argue with Demme's choices.

At times, "Rachel Getting Married" is so up-close and personal that it feels like the best-shot home movie you've ever seen. And that's a testament to great filmmaking.

For me, it's the most moving film of the year, and even though it has a low-budget feel, it deserves any nods that the Oscar powers that be may give it.

Jim Wunderle owns Wunderle Sound Services and is a Springfield freelance writer and musician. He can be reached at info@wunderlesound.com.[[In-content Ad]]