SNMR 6.16: "Rachel Getting Married"

Tonight's SNMR feature is "Rachel Getting Married" (2008, R, 113 minutes), starring Anne Hathaway, Rosemarie DeWitt, Bill Irwin, Tunde Adebimbe, Mather Zickel, Anna Deavere-Smith and Debra Winger. The film was directed by Jonathan Demme.

PLOT SUMMARY: Kym (Hathaway) is coming home for her sister Rachel's (DeWitt) wedding. The problem is she's coming home from rehab and carries with her all kinds of emotional baggage and bombshell drama, igniting long simmering tensions within the family.

MY OPINION: This film is an excellent look at how one person's dysfunction can upset an otherwise solid family unit. Anne Hathaway is one of the most talented and versatile young (under 30) actresses working in Hollywood today, as her nomination for Best Actress indicates. Her tension filled chemistry with co-star Rosemarie DeWitt seems very natural. It seemed to me that I had seen DeWitt in something else, but even after looking over at her body of work on imdb.com, can't place what it was that I saw her in. Weird, because I'm normally very good at recognizing where I've seen actors before even if they only have small roles.

The script is well written and very realistic. This film has that hand-held, home movie look, which works well for the story, giving the viewer a feeling of being part of the family, but can also be dreadfully annoying at times.

This is definitely a worthwhile movie to rent.

***¾ out of *****