Rachel Getting Married (2008)

RACHEL GETTING MARRIED, despite the title, is as much about Rachel getting married as "The Reader" is about the Holocaust. The wedding of Rachel Buchman is merely the backdrop -- the initial incident that brings Kym Buchman, a severely disfunctional recovering addict, back home. And when she's home, she manages to bring out the worst in everyone.

If it's possible to say simultaneously that RACHEL GETTING MARRIED is both a fantastic film and not very enjoyable to watch, that's what I would say about it.

The film is fantastic for a number of reasons, the most high-profile of which is a Princess Diary-shedding bravaura turn by Oscar-nominated Anne Hathaway as Kym. Getting less credit and deserving of equal, however, is the fantastic direction by Jonathan Demme, who continues to make compelling movies but is forever "the director of 'Silence of the Lambs'." It is Demme's decision, after all, to shoot "Rachel..." in cinema verite-style, with hand-held camera work that, at times, resembles the work of an amateur cameraman. The effect is stunning in that we are made to feel as if this is no film at all. Rather, it would appear that a guest at the wedding is documenting the proceedings.

If this feels like a film at all, it feels like a documentary. And this is why the film is often painful and uncomfortable to watch. It is endlessly-engrossing and not too often enjoyable. There are a few scenes in particular that are as downright squirm-inducing as the best scenes in a good horror film, such as when Kym gives a toast at her sister's rehearsal dinner or when Rachel learns at the beauty shop that Kym has been manufacturing stories of her horrible family life to spice up her contributions to group therapy in her 12-step program.

One thing I found interesting was the wedding itself. Demme makes a surprising choice to have no actor in the film utter a word about the culturally-diverse nuptuals. Yes, this is 2009, and the marriage of a white woman to a black man is no big deal. But the wedding itself appears to have been planned by Kofi Annan. Blending African, Indian and Asian elements with New England WASP and hippie white elements, everything from the music to the clothing is quite unusual for a wedding, or at least for the weddings shown in films. Suprisingly, we see two families that, except for Kym, gushingly welcome and accept each other into a cross-continental blend. But maybe this is what makes Kym stand out even more.

3.5 out of 4