Rachel Getting Married

Jonathan Demme seems to have kept himself fairly busy these past couple of years doing a lot of documentary work, including films about Neil Young and Jimmy Carter, but he's decided to saddle back up to the narrative in Rachel Getting Married, though he brings with him a lot of what he must have learned while making said documentary's.  Rachel... is the story of the titular character's wedding, and the homecoming of her sister, Kim, from a rehab facility. Kim is released so that she may attend, and, of course, when Kim, who has been in and out of rehab and, for various reasons you learn in the film, has been a thorn in the side of the family, shows up, things get REALLY intense right before the big day.

Anne Hathaway finally gets  to show us she can act outside of Disney movies and chick flicks, and actually does an amazing job as Kim. Rosemarie DeWitt is radiant as Rachel, and Tunde Adebimpe, who I first saw in Jump Tomorrow, was great as Rachel's soon to be husband Sidney. Great performances by Bill Irwin and Debra Winger as the divorced parents of Rachel and Kim round out the group. Rachel Getting Married is less a fiction film done in documentary style, and more a documentary of actors putting on the show of this wedding. Demme gives you an almost God's eye view of all the significant going's on, and makes you feel like you're not just seeing some Hollywood film about a dysfunctional family, but actually witnessing said family have a complete melt down. I ceased to see these people as individuals playing a part and completely sunk into the concept of these actors as actually being the people they portrayed. Demme and his team get massive props for bringing Jenny Lumet's story to the screen in such a seamless way. Truly, truly masterful filmmaking.