understandingaddiction

Rachel (Rosemary Dewitt) is getting married and sister Kym (Anne Hathaway) takes time out from drug rehabilitation to be home where the wedding takes place.  As the weekend progresses, family dysfunction unfolds and the audience becomes privy to the shared but unspoken tragedy and grief that cloud over the family.  Kym as the dramatic addict works on her 4th step of making amends publicly during the rehearsal dinner, turning a joyful occasion into a confrontation between the sisters.  Family therapists will recognize Melody Beattie’s descriptions of the roles of members of dysfunctional families. Dad (Bill Irwin) is the doting father, pacifier and peacemaker. Rachel is the ignored overachieving sister who does everything right and strives to the very end to get her rightful recognition.  Kym, the “scapegoat” (family member who takes tension away from the family by calling attention to herself) has been stoned and drunk from adolescence and carries the burden of an unspeakable sin for which she cannot forgive herself and redemption is not possible.  Debra Winger gives a good performance as the unfeeling mother and enabler.

Rachel is marrying Sidney (Tunde Adebimpe), a Black musician, gentle, steady and seemingly unaffected by the conflicts in his soon to be in-laws.  The movie treats the interracial marriage as a non-issue,  probably because the screenplay is written by Jenny Lumet who is Sidney Lumet’s daughter and Lena Horne’s granddaughter and maybe it is because it is about time.

Anne Hathaway, who gave a glimpse of her acting ability in Brokeback Mountain comes into her own in this movie.  Shot with handheld cameras, the effects simulate a documentary as if the videographer followed and lived with the wedding party over the weekend.  The camera pans in and out of Hathaway’s expressive face which shows the pain underneath her histrionics.  Some might wonder how this much drama could take place in one weekend.  People struggling with their own recovery do not. They live the difficulty of  one day at a time.  They know any event can be the tipping point.

Rachel Getting Married is a movie that contributes to understanding addiction.

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