Rachel Getting Married (2008)

Prolific director Jonathan Demme has easily moved between drama, both light and heavy (Handle With Care (1977), Melvin and Howard (1980), Swing Shift (1984), Married to the Mob (1988), Philadelphia (1993), and the Oscar-winning Silence of the Lambs (1991)) and documentary (Stop Making Sense (1984), Swimming to Cambodia (1987), and Neil Young: Heart of Gold (2006)). In Rachel Getting Married, Demme sort of combined the two. There was a script, but also a lot of improvisation, and all the camera work was handheld -- sometimes the viewer could tell the camera operator was running behind the actor -- shot with only available light. I got carsick as a child, but the last time I remember getting motion sickness was crossing the North Sea on an overnight boat trip in, maybe, 1994. And, now that I think about it, the handheld camera in Woody Allen's Husbands and Wives (1992) did make me a little nauseous. This one was worse. I had to close my eyes repeatedly once I realized it was not something I ate. Some of the footage was even shot by cast members who held cameras in the scenes (including filmmaker Roger Corman). So, if you are affected by motion sickness, try the back row.

Also, if you get antsy and/or irritated by family members disturbing everyone's serenity, you might want to skip this one. Anne Hathaway's Kym-with-a-Y is awkward and raw, ticking off almost everyone in her path. Fabulous performance. Last year Jack & I enjoyed Nicole Kidman as the neurotic Margot at the Wedding, but then saw a friend who had walked out of the next screening of the same movie, because she so hated the character. Rosemarie DeWitt (from TV's Mad Men) co-starred as Rachel, Bill Irwin was very good as Kym and Rachel's anxious father, Debra Winger was understated as their divorced mother, and the cast was dotted with celebrities and musicians, some of which I missed behind my eyelids. I'm looking forward to watching the DVD from across the room, maybe chapter by chapter. Not everyone is bothered by shaking cameras (it may be genetic), so you will have to use your own experience to judge (I've made a list of Motion Picture Motion Sickness--MPMS movies).

Other than that, I really liked it.