Rachel Getting Married

If, as my friend and fellow blogger CinemaRomantico says, Rachel Getting Married is the best film of the year then that is a really sad statement of films this year. It's not a bad film, it just isn't a great film or even a really good film. Its basically an okay film that gets elevated above its mediocrity by the lackluster year we've had and some strong performances.

The film takes place over a weekend as Rachel (Rosemarie Dewitt) is getting married. Her sister Kym (Anne Hathaway) is released from rehab for the occasion and all the issues of her life are coming with her. The fact that the whole wedding weekend is seemingly one giant love fest of multiculturalism save for occasional flare ups by Kym exposing the family drama is just a little too saccharine sweet for me. Tie that in with the wobbly hand held camera that films most of the action and I was queasy for a considerable part of the film.

For the love of all that is just set the camera down! I don't care if the point is to give a documentary feel or to make you feel as if you are in the house (I doubt the latter since last I checked my vision didn't rock softly like a boat in choppy water when I participate in activities (unless I've been drinking)). The film is at its most annoying when overwhelming me with happy, happy speech or music number in the rehearsal dinner or the actual wedding. I'd have been so much happier if the film had been 20 minutes shorter and had just cut out a lot of these scenes of love (but I admit I'm cynical).

It is at its most compelling when it is exposing that in fact the family isn't so cutesy and straight-laced. Rachel and Kym's father tends to prioritize Kym. Their mother is distant and lacking affection. The family fights are really intriguing. Still even as they are compelling they also never rise above what we've seen before from this kind of film. Add in all the nauseating rocking camera and the paradisaical nature of the wedding and its all just too much for me.

I admit my cynicism may be influencing me here and it has fine elements (and Anne Hathaway could be nominated for her performance and I wouldn't gripe) but it just wasn't great.