Margot
At The Wedding is
proof a movie with too much talking is a good thing when you have great
dialogue, characters and actors.
Nicole Kidman stars as
Margot – a writer from Manhattan
heading to the wedding of her estranged sister, Pauline (Jennifer Jason
Leigh). The two
used to be very close,
but Margot’s own troubles, insecurities and generally nasty
attitude have
driven a wedge between them, and it doesn’t look to get much
better after
Margot meets the fiancée, Malcolm (Jack Black).
Will the family be able to
make it through the ceremony without killing each other?
Writer/director Noah
Baumbach doesn’t give us a movie centered on a plot, but an
intricate,
maddening, hilarious and heartbreaking character study full of the best
dialogue you will hear in a movie.
He
puts each character’s neuroses, shortcomings, and
vulnerabilities on full
display and lets the actors bring out the most vivid portrayals
possible, while
also telling us the family history in small little nuggets of
information
passed along in each conversation, which helps us understand how it all
came to
this. Get ready to laugh and get ready to cry.
Best of all, the ensemble
and Baumbach team up to make each character part-villain and
part-sympathetic,
which keeps the audience interested in what they may say next. Kidman is fantastic as the
prim and proper
opinionated woman who swings between loving and pure evil with her
hurtful
comments masked as brutal honesty meant to help the target. It is amazing to see her
turn from loving
mother to intense, hurtful shrew with the snap of a finger.
Then, and I know you might
be shocked to hear this, Black continues to show he is growing as an
actor (you
can insert your own overweight joke here.
Again, I live in the glass house).
He is hilarious as the pessimistic, directionless
misanthrope who
doesn’t seem worthy of Pauline.
Yet, no
matter how foul, wrongheaded, or unromantic Malcolm may be at any
point, Black
finds some moments to make him appear to be a decent hearted guy, which
makes
it believable that Pauline would stay with this loser.
Margot
At The Wedding will
drive you crazy if you want a more obvious story or stuff blowing up,
but it’s
great for those who want to observe the underbelly of dysfunctional
family
life.
4 Waffles
(Out of 4)
Margot
At The Wedding is
rated R for sexual
content and language.
Copyright
2007 - WaffleMovies.com
