Review: Rachel Getting Married

I've wanted to see Rachel Getting Married since it came out in the summer (or was it early fall...?...hmm).  Unfortunately, I live in Kingston - the land of non-blockbuster movie scarcity.  I'm serious.  I never noticed it growing up, but an appalling percentage of movies that come out in larger cities like Toronto and Ottawa make it to our (insert angry-sarcasticy tone here) quaint little backwater.  Luckily, there are theatres like the artsy ghetto-chic one in Yorkville that screen movies long after they've left regular theatres.  It's like they're consciously catering to poor saps like me who have to wait for a trip to Toronto in order to see the movies we're interested in.  My mom was good enough to go see it with me (second time for her) during our shopping trip in TO this weekend.

Kym (Anne Hatheway) plays a recovering drug addict who returns home for her sister Rachel's wedding.  This movie does an amazing job of conveying the awkward phoniness of large family gatherings by evoking those petty alliances, unspoken grudges, and glaringly obvious disapprovals that are inevitable when people who have nothing in common pretend to be long lost friends for a substantial stretch of time. Competition for for attention and pity is hot, and most family members seem to bring out the absolute worst in one another. But what happens when these politics are further complicated by blame for the death of a young son/brother being batted around and the mother of the bride is so unapologetically disinterested in her children?  Can the wedding go off without a major battle scene?  I know I'm weird, but I find this kind of tension extremely suspenseful.  The movie is shot in the fashion of a home video, which takes some getting useful but is actually very effective - I felt like I was actually watching someone's amateur home video.  Yet the camera work is actually deceptively intricate - shots of characters, particularly in the wedding scene at the end, are perfectly timed so as to build suspense.

I'd have to say the best thing about Rachel Getting Married, however, is the acting.  Anne Hatheway's performance is certainly oscar-worthy, and I'd be very surprised if I see a better one this year.  I didn't recognize any of the other actors, but they are all fantastic.  This is the kind of movie that could have been ruined by less than perfect acting, and I'm in love with the idea that they all pulled it off!