Brian's Review - Rachel Getting Married

A real circus wedding.

Released: 2008
Genre(s): Drama

The idea of a standard American wedding evokes images of delicate bouquets of roses, refined string quartets, and the occasional high-strung bridezilla. This is not the scene that unfolds for us in "Rachel Getting Married" - a story that is just as much about the joyous experiences of a wedding party as it is about familial redemption in the wake of a horrific tragedy. The film effectively manages to blend quasi-documentary-style cinematography with its substantial cast of quirky wedding-goers, causing the events to view a lot like an actual home video, which in turn makes the rampant dysfunction all the more visceral. This is all done without the plot straying too far into the realm of the melodramatic; instead, the only exaggerated emotion here is that which arises due to typical sibling rivalries, albeit on a more epic scale, but their reactions feel so natural that there's no sticky soap opera residue to scrub away to find these nuanced and talented performances, most notably from Anne Hathaway, who superbly embodies both the terms "jaded" and "snarky." The atmosphere throughout is such a bizarre mix of sound and color - mainly due to the engaged couple's unorthodox and eclectic wedding tastes - that, despite its efforts to produce uncanny parallels to reality, sweeps the viewer away into a surreal dream. It's difficult to watch at times, cranking out so many raw, adverse situations that the emotional gauntlet may prove too abrasive for some. This is made all the more taxing due to some of these scenes being drawn out to an unnecessarily excessive length, an affliction that unfortunately effects some of the more mundane moments as well. Still, the most brilliant instances here are the ones that showcase the human condition in its most naked of forms: "Rachel Getting Married" manages to be funny, uplifting, poignant, and infuriating all at once and all intentionally. It's not always pretty and it's not always enjoyable, but by the end of this wedding, you'll be glad you got the invite.

Rating (out of 5): 3.5