rachel getting married

Jonathan Demme succeeds in adding something new to the dysfunctional-family-drama genre with Rachel Getting Married. Although another extended bobbing-camera film is hardly original, his direction molds the style to create a unique story of intimate conflict.

After a year in rehab, Kym Buchman (Anne Hathaway) returns home for her sister Rachel's (Rosemarie DeWitt) wedding. Her arrival brings family discontent and long-buried memories to the surface.

Superb acting by all of the cast members carries the film. Hathaway thrives in her unconventional turn as a self-loathing, paranoid casualty of drugs. Her eyes are piercing, her emotions raw and unfiltered. Kym is a walking disaster, and the effect she has on her family and the viewer is to electrify them with the dreaded truths of the family's past. DeWitt delivers a similarly powerful performance, creating a character whose unbridled jealousy exacerbates the pre-wedding conflict.

The film is not without imperfections. There are a few scenes that drag on too long, and the wedding music, which is excellently written and performed by Robyn Hitchcock and others, unnecessarily dominates the last act.

Despite these flaws, Demme's direction and Hathaway's acting give life and meaning to the powerful tale of Rachel's wedding.