rachel getting married
Hathaway shines in rocky ‘Getting Married’
by Brittany Kemp/A&E editor
“Rehab” has been inescapable for the last few years in the domain of popular culture, from VH1 to nearly every other celebrity (from David Duchovny’s sex addiction stint to everything Amy Winehouse does).
Even as a slogan printed on t-shirts, “rehab is for quitters.” That’s what makes the new drama “Rachel Getting Married” so timely, just released in Erie and now playing at Tinseltown after a run in major cities.
An almost gritty, dizzying exploration of the effects after someone leaves rehab, “Rachel Getting Married” feels like you’re being thrown into the middle of somebody’s chaotic, troubled life with no safety vest. From the beginning until an uneasy peace that settles over the conclusion, there’s something harsh and realistic about it.
The first few minutes might make you want to throw up, due to the jerky camerawork.
Once you get past that, you cannot look away from director Johnathan Demme’s (“The Silence of the Lambs” and “Philadelphia”) latest creation. More importantly, you cannot help but be spellbound by Anne Hathaway’s narcissistic basket case.
This movie has been billed as her best performance to date; a defining pivot from the roles she’s been associated with in the past. Her chopped-hair, cigarette-wielding, acid-mouthed Kym, gifted with the ability to make every situation about herself (including a rehearsal dinner speech which she manages to distort into her “amends” step), is memorable. She can make you wince with the wrong set of words, said at the wrong time, something she often does.
Her father (played by Bill Irwin, who excels with his somewhat rough, somewhat tender emotion) comes to pick her up from her umpteenth stay at rehab. He truly believes in his lost daughter, despite the tragedy and havoc she has brought upon their family.
It’s hard enough for someone to return from rehab to normalcy any time, but harder when the family is in the midst of planning an elaborate wedding. Enter Rachael (Rosemarie Dewitt, who could easily pass for Hathaway’s relative in reality): Kym’s sister, who is just days away from tying the knot to the good-natured if not dorky Sidney (TV on the Radio frontman Tunde Adebimpe, scarcely recognizable).
The drama does peak a little early in “Rachel Getting Married,” but there’s a discomforting tension that remains throughout the rest of the film. The thing is, though, underlying that tension is the incredible love these crazy people have for each other. Despite their ups and downs (and there appears to be a healthy splash of both here), they genuinely care.
When Kym goes missing after a heated argument concerning a fabricated story she told about her sister in rehab, the family searches for her, terrified of what may have happened. That’s when the sense you might be watching in on a real family’s interactions with each other creeps up.
The rare creature known as Debra Winger appears as the estranged mother, and her departure from her daughters at the wedding reception is heartbreaking.
Demme put together one of the better movies on the tough love a family endures and the shaky road to life after rehab, and that in itself is a feat. Anne Hathaway, in turn, is taking a serious step up for herself as an actress.
Any word of recent personal struggle is put out of mind upon seeing her transform into Kym. And what a transformation it is.
Look out for other musicians (besides Adebimpe) Robyn Hitchcock and Fab Five Freddy cast in small roles.
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This was published on November 18, 2008.
by Brittany Kemp/A&E editor
“Rehab” has been inescapable for the last few years in the domain of popular culture, from VH1 to nearly every other celebrity (from David Duchovny’s sex addiction stint to everything Amy Winehouse does).
Even as a slogan printed on t-shirts, “rehab is for quitters.” That’s what makes the new drama “Rachel Getting Married” so timely, just released in Erie and now playing at Tinseltown after a run in major cities.
An almost gritty, dizzying exploration of the effects after someone leaves rehab, “Rachel Getting Married” feels like you’re being thrown into the middle of somebody’s chaotic, troubled life with no safety vest. From the beginning until an uneasy peace that settles over the conclusion, there’s something harsh and realistic about it.
The first few minutes might make you want to throw up, due to the jerky camerawork.
Once you get past that, you cannot look away from director Johnathan Demme’s (“The Silence of the Lambs” and “Philadelphia”) latest creation. More importantly, you cannot help but be spellbound by Anne Hathaway’s narcissistic basket case.
This movie has been billed as her best performance to date; a defining pivot from the roles she’s been associated with in the past. Her chopped-hair, cigarette-wielding, acid-mouthed Kym, gifted with the ability to make every situation about herself (including a rehearsal dinner speech which she manages to distort into her “amends” step), is memorable. She can make you wince with the wrong set of words, said at the wrong time, something she often does.
Her father (played by Bill Irwin, who excels with his somewhat rough, somewhat tender emotion) comes to pick her up from her umpteenth stay at rehab. He truly believes in his lost daughter, despite the tragedy and havoc she has brought upon their family.
It’s hard enough for someone to return from rehab to normalcy any time, but harder when the family is in the midst of planning an elaborate wedding. Enter Rachael (Rosemarie Dewitt, who could easily pass for Hathaway’s relative in reality): Kym’s sister, who is just days away from tying the knot to the good-natured if not dorky Sidney (TV on the Radio frontman Tunde Adebimpe, scarcely recognizable).
The drama does peak a little early in “Rachel Getting Married,” but there’s a discomforting tension that remains throughout the rest of the film. The thing is, though, underlying that tension is the incredible love these crazy people have for each other. Despite their ups and downs (and there appears to be a healthy splash of both here), they genuinely care.
When Kym goes missing after a heated argument concerning a fabricated story she told about her sister in rehab, the family searches for her, terrified of what may have happened. That’s when the sense you might be watching in on a real family’s interactions with each other creeps up.
The rare creature known as Debra Winger appears as the estranged mother, and her departure from her daughters at the wedding reception is heartbreaking.
Demme put together one of the better movies on the tough love a family endures and the shaky road to life after rehab, and that in itself is a feat. Anne Hathaway, in turn, is taking a serious step up for herself as an actress.
Any word of recent personal struggle is put out of mind upon seeing her transform into Kym. And what a transformation it is.
Look out for other musicians (besides Adebimpe) Robyn Hitchcock and Fab Five Freddy cast in small roles.
-
This was published on November 18, 2008.
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