Grade: A | Genre: Drama Summary: This is a great film, but its also a tough film. This family character study hits you on all levels. Dysfunctional family life has rarely been approached as well as we see it in Rachel Getting Married. This film makes you recall 1980s Ordinary People that featured a family who looked rather bland on the surface but was stirring incessantly underneath. Rachel Getting Married features some fantastic acting at the hands of Rosemarie DeWitt and Debra Winger, but the tour-de-force performance here is Anne Hathaway. She has had the misfortune of landing her career in a pile of fluff films (Princess Diaries, Get Smart) and forgettable turns in quality flicks (Brokeback Mountain). Rachael Getting Married is the role that cements her as one of the premiere actresses of her generation. Her character Kym is cooping with a lifetime of disappointment fueled by the spark of addiction. On loan from rehab for the weekend so that she can attend her sister Rachel's wedding, Kym personifies someone who is uncomfortable in their own skin.

The film opens as Kym (Anne Hathaway) is being released from rehab into her parent's care. Rehab has been a revolving door for Kym for the past 10 years, and like a well-worn prison inmate she looks more at ease in the system than outside of it. She arrives home amid the chaos of her sister's last second wedding planning. While the initial sister reunion is joyous, its not long before the true feelings rear their ugly head. Rachel (Rosemarie DeWitt) has bypassed Kym for maid of honor duties and instead picked Kym's nemesis Emma. This sets Kym off and once Rachel back peddles to serve up the job to her sister in that placating tone, Kym's dignity doesn't kick in with the realization that she wasn't her sister's first choice. She accepts the post with gusto. At the rehearsal dinner, everyone is taking their turn commenting on what Rachel and Sidney (Tunde Adebimpe) have meant to them. All the while Kym's family is holding their collective breathe over the ticking time bomb sitting in the corner. One she grabs the microphone, she doesn't disappoint them. She launches into a self-aggrandizing speech on her days in rehab and apologizing to her sister for nothing in particular. Basically, its her excuses to shatter the spotlight on the good child if only for just a few moments, and turn the attention back to her. This selfishness only keys Rachel off as she becomes this building volcano of hatred towards Kym and how her drug addled mishaps have affected her life.

As we creep closer to the wedding, new revelations surface that piece together what caused each family member to take up this disjointed role they've been cast in. The film never gets easier. Each fight seems to rip apart someone harder. We wonder how long this downward spiral will last before Kym is sucked back into her comfortable pattern of abuse. To a point, we wish we could see easy answers on how to make each of these characters whole and able to love one another again, but each inkling of hope only breeds failure.

This is a great film, but its also a tough film. This isn't one of those you pop in the DVD player to checkout after a long day. This family character study hits you on all levels. Director Jonathan Demme (Silence of the Lambs, Philadelphia) does a fantastic job of helping each actor find the souls of these characters. It might not sound that complex, but these are tortured souls starring into the abyss just wanting someone to love them. I know Kate Winslet took home the gold for The Reader (which I still have yet to see so I'll refrain from comment), but I have a hard time seeing how she usurped Anne Hathaway on that night. Hathaway is fantastic as Kym. This character is so self absorbed and constantly looking to tear someone else down so she might build herself up. She should be a worthless throw away to be despised, but we never do. Hathaway finds that redeeming shred of humanity that Kym possesses and she applies it in soft, exacting brush strokes. This role was a game changer, and it will be hard to see her the same again.

Release Date: October 31, 2008