On the one hand, Rachel Getting Married is a docu-style contempo-drama where family members rip each other's skin off and speak directly to the nerve endings, and on the other hand it's a celebration of diversity where black and white marry, and a couple Asians are invited to the party for spice. Often, when these two hands come together they'll include a racist character who makes old school remarks so the audience can point and scream "old school!" with sheepish enlightenment, ala the moronic Gran Torino. The beauty of this film is that it doesn't engage in diversity training and simply observes the diversity. Its hipness cup does runneth over, however, by outfitting the bridesmaids in saris and designing the wedding cake as an elephant. There are no Indians in the film, nor any plot points suggesting any characters have ever been to India or even know any Indians. I can only assume that the theme is meant to play on the notion that all enlightened people love India. Maybe I missed something but it seems weird and inexplicable, and hence, a little multiculturally profligate.The "look ma! No hands" handheld video camera that's meant to reinforce, or rather enforce, the not so much directing as capturing directorial style is annoying more than it needs to be. It devalues the film, and along with the numerous scenes that go on far too long (or needn't have been included in the first place) leaves the viewer with the impression that they are watching a real wedding video. I mean that in an unflattering way.
What makes this film really annoying, however, is that it is completely inauthentic. The grand metaphor for me involves Anne Hathaway and cigarettes. She's obviously a non-smoker in real life and just can't act smoking, and yet she chain smokes throughout the film. Why? Because it gives her rehab character street cred. That's how phony most of the script is. It's full of dialog that even the most narcissistic and damaged are incapable of, or maybe not, but even if you allow the serve, the volleys are absurd. Take the scene where the girls are in a salon getting their hair done. Hathaway is in a chair up front getting highlights while her sister's head is in the back being washed. Some asshole kneels in front of Hathaway and relates a story about knowing her from some rehab psycho ward where they passed around anonymous confessions as an cleansing exercise. The guy tells her he knows the note he got was from her and that her story of an uncle who sexually abused her and her sister helped him and he wants to say thank you. Now, it's just impossible for someone to be that stupid. Did I mention that he tells the story to Hathaway with enough volume that her sister, and presumably everyone else in the busy salon, also hears it? It's this kind of crass and amateurish manipulation that sinks the film. I couldn't recover after that scene, and neither did the film. Even if the film had gotten better, instead of a lot worse and much more boring, that big ugly stain of a scene could only receive positive marks for blotting out, by surpassing in ugliness, the interminable dishwasher fight scene that preceded it.
There is a lot to like about this film. The joy, amidst all the suffering, is palpable, and many of the performances are well-executed, a few resulting in very likable characters, mostly on the groom's side. But the bad overshadows the good, like the omnipresent group of musicians whose constant rehearsing provides a live soundtrack to the movie in lieu of a real one. It's a cool concept, like much of the film, but it doesn't work. I want to applaud the film's good intentions and its progressive approach to film making but it comes off as immature, self-indulgent, and too hip for its own good as it tries to cover way too much ground in its frustratingly unclear timeframe.
★★
Well, even though this is a film you are panning, it sounds like a film I would like. Am I just too obvious for words? I have had experiences you would never ever believe and they aren't too far off topic here. Like that scene in the salon. I have stories of women behaving badly in chic watering holes that must seem like made up crap and totally unbelievable to you. But even if you believed them, they might seem better left untold to you.
ReplyDeleteRachel Getting Married is producing a lot of extreme reaction. I say this because ratings given to it by people are covering the whole spectrum!
ReplyDeleteYep, it's a love/hate thing. It's supposed to be an intelligent likable film, and there are many elements that are likable ... in concept. But if you've ever seen a film by Woody Allen or David Mamet (ya know, adults) with pithy dialog, this film comes off like a middle school experiment among friends. But you should definitely check it out and let us know what you think.
ReplyDeleteYou know, I think I liked it for all the reasons you cited as being good qualities and ignored most of the stuff you didn't like about it. That salon scene was about as dramatically manipulative as it got, but otherwise I have been to weddings like this, and I have only been to three weddings. I thought the film tried to do something quite precise and did it well. I felt like I was the guest at the wedding who was really close with the family, who happened to be stuck holding the videocamera, with all my dialogue conveniently edited out. Also, I take perverse pleasure in the fact that tens of thousands of women went to this and came out confused and wondering how that was supposed to be anything like 27 Dresses. I dunno if Hathaway deserves an Oscar but I had a good time.
ReplyDeleteI'm bummed I didn't have a better time because this is the kind of film I like, in both form and content. I recommend the film, and if one isn't bothered by the things that bothered me, it's a good film.
ReplyDeleteIt's interesting to me that reviewers are focusing on race and diversity at all with this film, when it's kind of a non-issue in the actual movie. It's certainly not Moses on the mountain bellowing down at us and proclaiming what to draw from it, like Crash or Gran Torino. The fact that two people from different cultural backgrounds are getting married is celebrated, but there's no attention at all given to any superficiality or cliched conflict based on race and race alone. It seems way closer to what real life is like for people who aren't poorly written characters (or assholes) most of whom acknowledge racial or cultural differences but still able to function in a society where they exist. The whole race/diversity thing didn't even cross my mind until the Indian theme of the wedding started popping up. Then I thought, ohhhhh.. she's one of THOSE white chicks in her thirties. But that made a lot of sense. When you're ultra-yuppie you need to have an India to fill the yawning void where meaning is supposed to exist in your life. Until those thoughts crossed my mind, I was mainly wondering how the loud psychology student met the quiet musician.
ReplyDeleteGreat post, Zack, you are obviously not a fifty year old white guy from Oklahoma. But there's a bunch of them out there. "I was mainly wondering how the loud psychology student met the quiet musician." Me too!
ReplyDeleteThis is a New World film and could have been better (imho) with a little maturity in the writing and editing, leaving out about 30 minutes of stuff that didn't need to be there. I actually blame the film's failure (for me) on the writer's (Jenny Lumet) father (Sidney) who seems to have instilled old hollywood cliche crap writing techniques in his daughter (12 Angry Men ... bleh!) more than Demme's wont to include his friends and relatives. Both of those things contributed to a selfish preciousness that irked me, but in the end, while the intentions may have been good, it just wasn't smart enough. But I do want to give it BIG props for the angle you are coming from. Bravo, that!