Susan Granger’s review of “Rachel Getting Married” (Sony Pictures Classics)
There’s good news and bad news. The good news is that Anne Hathaway delivers a haunting performance, designed to revise her image as Hollywood’s “good-girl,” based on her success in “The Princess Diaries.” The bad news is Jonathan Demme (“The Silence of the Lambs,” “Philadelphia,” “Something Wild,” “The Manchurian Candidate”) strikes a discordant note with this sociopolitical drama disguised as a dysfunctional family comedy. When Rachel (Rosemary DeWitt), a Ph.D. candidate in psychology, planned her weekend wedding to a handsome African-American musician (Tunde Adebimpe) at her father’s rambling Stamford, Connecticut, home, she had no idea that her younger sister, Kym (Hathaway), would be able to leave rehab for the politically-correct celebration. But fragile, foul-mouthed Kym is there – babbling incessantly about festering hurts and trying to upstage the bride, pleading for recognition from her divorced parents. Her father (Bill Irwin) and stepmother (Anna Devere Smith) are seemingly oblivious but her mother (Debra Winger) is as self-involved as ever, even when Kym has sex with the best man (another recovering addict) and trashes a car in the woods. Written by Jenny Lumet (director Sidney’s daughter) and indulgently directed by Demme, it’s all about learning to forgive %u2013 and move on. Stylistically, Demme pays tribute to Robert Altman’s legacy of overlapping dialogue, erratic framing and hand-held camerawork. But cinematographer Declan Quinn’s restless, naturalistic approach in high-definition video doesn’t work. Instead of involving the audience emotionally, it becomes turbulent, edgy and irritating, particularly when the groom chants Neil Young’s “Unknown Legend” at the altar and during the festive, seemingly endless reception with dancing, sari-clad bridesmaids et al. On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, “Rachel Getting Married” is an annoying, dreary 6. It’s an invitation you might consider declining %u2013 until the dvd.
