Rachel Getting Married

In Rachel Getting Married, Anne Hathaway plays Kym, an addict with a day-pass from Rehab who’s heading home for her sister’s musical, multi-cultural wedding. Kym is a bit of a nutter, and (with some reason) no one really trusts her or her fragile recovery. Her Mother’s a restrained and distant bitch, her Dad overcompensates wildly, and her sister Rachel’s finally had enough that her special weekend is being routinely hi-jacked by her self-absorbed sister. So it’s a laugh a minute, really (not). It could all have been mawkish and unpleasant but it’s surprisingly watchable and the scenes between Kym and her Mom (a much-missed Debra Winger) are pure electricity.

Rachel Getting Married filmed in and around Stamford, Connecticut which is really about it from the locations stand-point (the family home itself is on Westview Lane, but I can’t find much more about it online.) More interesting though is the production’s technique, which uses a combination of devices to get you in deep and dirty with the proceedings – including brash, jumpy handheld “home video” and shots that linger a little longer than normal and therefore feel more amateurish. With many-dimensional scenes, and numerous background characters present but not always identified, you’re encouraged to feel part of the party – especially during the painful, revealing rehearsal dinner where you dread that it might be your turn next to stand up and say something.

I’d have throttled the violinist though.