Movie Review: Rachel Getting Married

Over 114 minutes we get to go up close and personal with two diverse families. Liberal-leaning Connecticut makes for the perfect state for Rachel and Sidney to get it on. Successful dad Paul is proud as a peacock to see his daughter walk down the aisle. More worries, however, concern his other daughter Kym.

Black sheep oddities can come with any family only our Kym is a case all unto herself. Fresh out of rehab this problem child arrives for the festivities and you can cut the tension with a knife. Naturally, all sorts of chaos ensues which all have a demonstrable effect on the assembled guests.

Real smart direction from Demme gives us a bird’s eye view into all the peccadilloes of members of each family and their assorted guests. Anne Hathaway (Get Smart) turns in an Oscar caliber performance as the daughter whose madness(?) is palpable. Fathers everywhere will feel big time for the dilemma faced by Bill Irwin (Across the Universe) whose range of emotions are pretty broad here. Equal time goes to Rosemarie DeWitt (Cinderella Man) who takes a shining as bride to be Rachel, warts and all. Best man Kieran shows lots of poise by way of Mather Zickel (Balls of Fury) with Tunde Adebimpe sucking it all in as groom Sidney.

You get a real sense of all the excitement of a wedding with quite the build-up by Demme.