Rachel Getting Married

Starring

Anne Hathaway, Rosemarie DeWitt, Debra Winger

Directed by Jonathan Demme

Jonathan Demme, the Oscar-winning director behind The Silence of the Lambs (1991) and Philadelphia (1993), has spent the past few years directing under-the-radar documentaries, such as Jimmy Carter: Man from Plains (2007), The Agronomist (2003), and Neil Young: Heart of Gold (2006). But like Martin Scorsese, Demme can easily jump between documentaries and feature films. Rachel Getting Married is Demme’s first non-documentary work since his underrated remake of The Manchurian Candidate (2004), and the film – starring Anne Hathaway as a recovering drug addict attending her sister’s wedding – is one of the best of Demme’s career.

 I’ve often argued that handheld camerawork in movies is excruciatingly unnecessary and detracts from the picture as a whole (watch any films directed by Peter Berg and you’ll see what I’m talking about). But a select few directors have a firm grasp on the technique – Paul Greengrass uses handheld cameras to great, unsettling effect in United 93 (2006) and his Bourne sequels (2004, 2007). In Rachel Getting Married, Demme shows complete mastery over the technique, as well; he immerses the audience in the wedding with a realism that is involving and unique, evoking the work of Robert Altman sans the tripod.

 Kym (Hathaway) checks out of rehab to attend the wedding of her sister Rachel (Rosemarie DeWitt) to Sydney (Tunde Adebimpe). Simple enough concept, stretched to great dramatic effect by screenwriter Jenny Lumet, which involves the death of a young sibling, twelve-step meetings, cold mother Abby (Debra Winger), warm father Paul (Bill Irwin), and a host of wedding guests as eccentric as they come.

 Rachel Getting Married is a film that stands out for it’s striking honesty. There is not a false moment in the movie, not a frame that does not shine with completely genuine performances. This movie proves Roger Ebert’s theory true that “a film is not about what it is about, but how it is about it.” I have seen terrible movies this year with intriguing plots (Blindness, Vantage Point), but Rachel Getting Married is a great film that is, on the surface, only about a wedding. The performances from Hathaway, Irwin, DeWitt, Adebimpe, and Winger are so thoughtful, understated, and poignant that I fear they may be forgotten at the Academy Awards.

 Michael Cimino’s The Deer Hunter (1978) opens with a wedding that lasts for approximately one-third of the three-hour film, where plot and character take a backseat to sensory details. Rachel Getting Married has many scenes that follow such an immersive structure, creating an environment balanced between sensory images and dramatic tension. Cimino didn’t make movies for people with short attention spans; neither does Demme. His film is meditative and fascinating.

 In 2002, I met Demme at The Paramount Theatre, where he screened his remake of Charade, titled The Truth About Charlie, starring Mark Wahlberg and Thandie Newton. The movie was unremarkable, but the man was. I suppose I’ll always show favor to eccentric auteur directors who will seemingly try anything, and Demme’s varied work puts him on a very short list of great living directors. Rachel Getting Married is a chance to watch the man who made Hannibal Lector frightening, make a wedding memorable.

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