paulrdesroches

Starting off a little strangely for me, I hung with it and it developed into a well directed, sensitive film dealing with issues of ethics and morality, the search for meaning in life for a disillusioned young woman, quality friendships and relationships, and the struggle for existential justification. The acting was very high caliber, the language is mild, and the dramatic tension is well managed. Some information/secrets are withheld from both the viewer and the protagonist which deepens the value of the film's intent, and for those who like resolution in a film by its end, this one doesn't disappoint. A good movie brings a tear to the eye on occasion, and this one does just that. Like life itself, there is disenchantment, pain, persistent struggling, discovery, and finally forgiveness and the resultant experience of satisfaction with a willingness to engage life to the fullest. An optimistic yet believable story worth a look.

There are a few aspects that make this film tedious and almost painful to give your full & undivided attention to, but if you wish to behold a deep exploration of human emotional drama that is rarely witnessed on film, this one does deliver that and more.

I agree with the aversion to the hand-held camera style, and the overly long scenes, and the saturation of unusual and unexciting musical accompaniment throughout, (actually portrayed as part of a scene when the actors themselves can't bear it any longer) and the perhaps overdone emphasis on cultural diversity and universal love as portrayed at the rehearsal dinner, for instance.

But the core of the film is about nuclear family relationships, and the stress on members in the aftermath of an irresponsible accident that causes the loss of an innocent, all blamed on Rachel's sister, Kym, played by Anne Hathaway. She's a struggling newly reformed substance abuser/addict with a very heavy heart and a desperate need to be forgiven and to be loved by those whom she has hurt the most. Her current addiction is limited to cigs and self-obsessiveness, much to her detriment, and the challenges to sibling and parental love are taken to great lengths during this intense family drama, but with an underlying sense of survival that promises to emerge from the emotionally painful struggles.

Not a "happy" movie per se, but one that is full of realism and leaves us with a sense that, in time, the lives of the protagonists will survive the strains on their respective hearts and minds.

One aspect of this film I found most interesting is the apparent complete lack of cultural prejudices in all instances, and the total acceptance and loving nature of all those of various racial and cultural backgrounds that permeates the environment around the nuptials. In the midst of such a highly civilized group of such divergence, the focus is shifted to such a small subset of human relationships. It brings a kind of macroscopic focus to the center of the story.