2008 dramaRating: 11/20 (Jen: 13/20)
Plot: Kym (this movie lost a point just for this spelling) is released from a rehabilitation center to participate in her sister's wedding with her dysfunctional family. Drama unfolds.
I can't figure out if Shane Getting Annoyed or Shane Getting Uncomfortable would be a better alternate title for this movie. First off, Anne Hathaway's performance is really inconsistent. At times, she's terrific and makes it easy to become emotionally involved in her character. At other times, she's shaky, almost confused by her character. Speaking of shaky, this is filmed in that faux-documentary style with handheld cameras, and that gets old really quickly. There are some extraordinarily awkward scenes in this that go on far too long--endless toasts at a wedding rehearsal dinner, some sort of variety show, a weird scene involving an impromptu dishwashing competition, and a reception that seemed twice as long as any reception I've ever been to. That reception, by the way, included the only reason I wanted to see this movie in the first place as Robyn Hitchcock plays a wedding singer and performs a couple songs. He's juxtaposed with an annoying rapper though which perfectly illustrates what's wrong with this movie. There's some good, maybe even some great, butting violently up against the bad in a way that makes this ultimately clunky and unsatisfying.
5 comments:
Yeah that dishwashing competition was the worst. Who empties dirty dishes out of a dishwasher just to prove they can pack more in? Oh wait, you do if you wanna find the dead son's plate. *spoiler alert*
or set up some kind of conflict between the dad and his new son-in-law, but there really was no tension there at all. Yeah, that was just a completely meaningless scene.
Why did you see this movie, by the way?
I heard the acting was really good and i think i thought the gratuitous sex scene would be more graphic. i've got this odd anne hathaway preoccupation... she seems too tall and too mature to be younger than me. i saw get smart on the plane and couldn't keep my eyes off her. that movie sucked. it was one of my fav. shows as a kid and i remember my folks taking me to see the "nude bomb" as a kid...
I completely agree with your review (especially the camerawork criticism). I also saw this because of the reviews (don't even know what Hitchcock looks like), but watching it was like nails on a chalkboard. They make Hathaway's character so annoying that by the time the payoff came and I discovered her motives, I didn't really care.
A 10.
Hitchcock is the gray-haired Englishman with the scarf. He sings two songs (not back-to-back) at the wedding reception, an older song called "America" and a newer, terribly titled song called "Up to Our Nex in Love"...Demme did a concert video deal with Robyn Hitchcock called 'Storefront Hitchcock' which is really cool (maybe just for fans?). Hitchcock was also in the remake of 'The Manchurian Candidate' apparently, but I've not seen that one.
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