Rachel Getting Married

There seem to be two kinds of Jonathan Demme films: the Hollywood Oscar sweepers, and the much smaller films that allow him to focus on his love of people and music.  His recent 'Rachel Getting Married' finds him returning to the later as he takes us into the week surrounding a home wedding in the Connecticut countryside.  Though the general setting, shaky hand-held camerawork, and tense dynamic between the bride and her unstable sister HEAVILY recall Noah Baumbach's 'Margot At The Wedding'; 'Rachel...' puts us in a very crowded house filled with family, best friends, and musicians who never seem to stop playing.  There are extended scenes of toasts, musical performances, and a cutthroat dishwasher-loading competition.  Demme puts the camera right on the faces of the guests and family members during these moments when everyone comes together.  We feel every bit of their joy when the celebration is in full swing, and the tension when the potential for disaster is more imminent. 

Much of this potential comes in the form of Kim, Rachel's sister.  She's fresh out of rehab and still nursing the guilt of being at the helm of a family tragedy some years ago.  For the first time in a while, she comes home to find herself not the center of attention.  It's not long before Rachel feels this and begins to resent Kim's presence.  For all the casual, home-movie feel; Demme masterfully builds the tension.  Will Kim find a way to ruin the day?  Will she relapse?  Even in the thick of the fun and joy, it all feels like it could be headed in some awful direction.  There is much about the steps of rehab and the nature of family to take away from here, but Demme favors ambience over answers.  In other words, he'd rather put us in the chaos of those rooms and let us try to see how it feels.  Sometimes just being there says enough.  The film's climax is explosive, but mercifully quick.  The wedding, however, doesn't spare us from the relentless partying that seems to go on...and on...and on; getting more wonderfully chaotic with each sequence.  

All this joy and pain is aided by the across the board-wonderful performances.  Especially notable is the eccentric Bill Irwin as the girls' father.  It's a peculiar performance that teeters between solid father of the bride and emotionally over the top.  A generally ageless Debra Winger returns from the dead as the girls' distant mother and proves she's lost little of what made her one of the great actresses of the 80's.  Enough greatness has been bestowed upon Anne Hathaway's Kim.  Suffice it to say that it's all true.  

'Rachel Getting Married' ends with a wonderful shot of Rachel reclining on a porch chair as the musicians quietly play in the background.  It's a rare moment of calm in Rosemarie DeWitt's elegant performance, and it again succeeds at putting us right there with her.  For all of the fun and drama, we're relieved to finally come out on the other side.