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Rachel's Getting Married, but Her Sister's Going Mad

A young woman just out of rehab corrupts her sister’s wedding plans in the Jonathan Demme drama Rachel Getting Married. Kym (Anne Hathaway) is the ne’er-do-well, chain-smoking sister who’s been clean and sober for nine months, but no matter, her life is still a mess. A problem child who took the wrong path in life, Kym returns home and singlehandedly interferes with her sister’s big weekend by virtue of her attendance alone. It turns out she is worse than your ordinary deadbeat drug addict, for she’s not only responsible for ruining herself: long ago she ran her car off a bridge with baby brother in tow. She was high on Percocet at the time, and escaped; little Ethan was strapped to a car seat, and drowned. “Do I sacrifice everything in this life because I killed our little brother?” Kym asks after a run-in with her sister. This is the trauma that haunts the Buckmans, and from which there is no escape. Kym, ridden with guilt, cannot cope with the loss. The rest of the family, especially her sister, Rachel (Rosemarie DeWitt), cannot cope with Kym.  Though a joyous wedding is nearing, and the festivities at the Buckman home have just begun, Kym taints the proceedings with her devilish attitude. How to accept the pariah back into the fold? Well, it isn’t easy, for wherever Kym goes, chaos follows.

 

Rachel’s betrothed is a quiet, well-mannered African-American fellow named Sidney Williams (Tunde Adebimpe). He’s a brainy giant who wears huge glasses and isn’t shy about singing Neil Young’s “Unknown Legend” to his bride. How often does a groom sing Neil Young, or any song, for that matter, during a wedding ceremony? It’s one of the lighter moments in a film that is otherwise concerned with the ongoing tragedy that is Kym. Right out the gate, Kym is a symbol of self-centered haughtiness when she puts her sister on the spot about being maid of honor. In short order, girlfriend Emma (Anisa George) is forced to relinquish the title: “You can have it,” she says spitefully, “the crown is yours.” Rachel is often put into a miserable position thanks to the antics/tantrums of her younger sister; it’s no way for a bride-to-be to wedding-prep, that’s for sure. The relationship between Kym and Rachel teeters on edge throughout the film, with Rachel coming close to severing ties, only to capitulate last minute; it’s impossible for her to break free, no matter how unbecoming and wretched her sibling.   Their father (Bill Irwin) patiently mediates and does all he can to prop up his lost daughter. This creates tension with Rachel, who feels slighted because Kym is always being protected.  No matter the father’s efforts, however, Kym remains a most difficult case. 

 

Things regress further when the Buckmans, Williams’, and their friends toast the newlyweds-in-waiting in an extended ceremony. By the time it’s Kym’s turn to speak, the microphone has died. She’d have done better to skip her turn, but when she manages to get the mike to work, she dives into an embarrassing, endless confessional: “I’ve been a nightmare,” she proclaims, “and you (Rachel) have been a saint.” This marks the beginning of her unraveling, as the once spirited party fizzles into something of a twelve step program. Kym has a knack for shining the spotlight on herself, and the more she takes center stage, the more she drives away those closest to her. “Your suffering is not the most important thing,” Rachel scolds her in one of their many tiffs. But it is the most important thing; it’s what propels Demme’s film and leads to the most heated exchanges. In an unforgettable scene, Kym pays a visit to her mother (Debra Winger) to inquire why she was permitted to drive Ethan that fateful day. Why was Ethan put in her charge, she asks, when everyone knew she was a disaster hooked on drugs, whacked out of her mind? After the fireworks between mother and daughter are complete, it’s clear that their relationship may be shattered beyond repair. Mom is not as forgiving as Rachel, it appears.  A chill overtakes the film after this unsettling scene, a chill that not even Sydney’s Neil Young impersonation can abate.

 

The camaraderie amongst the huge weekend gathering at the Buckman residence is at times overblown. Everything is hunky-dory, with Kym the angsty exception. Put a few dozen people under one roof for an entire weekend, wedding or no wedding, and it’s likely that more than a few guests will fall out of temper.  Also, cinematographer Declan Quinn’s hyper-handheld camera more often than not proves a distraction; such jagged camera movements are better suited for one-hour dramas on the small screen. 

 

Rachel Getting Married is rated R for language and brief sexuality and is currently showing at the Ritz at the Bourse, Philadelphia.