Ever been to one of those weddings that just will not end? “Rachel Getting Married” is the cinematic equivalent, a movie with a powerful performance from Anne Hathaway but a story undone by the self-indulgence of director Jonathan Demme, who loiters interminably on some scenes.

Anne Hathaway, left, is Kym and Rosemarie DeWitt as Rachel in “Rachel Getting Married.”

Demme’s detours into documentaries (“Neil Young: Heart of Gold,” “Jimmy Carter: Man from Plains”) actually serve him well as he crafts a loose, docudrama style that infuses great authenticity into this anguished reunion tale of family and friends.

But Demme did the reflect-real-life thing almost too well. Many moments are genuine to the point where you feel trapped in a room with someone else’s relations in a marathon session of picking and clawing at old wounds. Continue reading

“Rachel Getting Married” began life when director Sidney Lumet’s daughter, Jenny, imagined a young bride looking at herself in a three-way mirror. Then her sister bursts into the room, and the moment is either enhanced or — destroyed.Or perhaps a little of both.

As realized by director Jonathan Demme, “Rachel Getting Married,” which opens Friday, captures life in all of its messiness, juxtaposing a gorgeous wedding against a family confronting both a past tragedy and the present neediness (or is it selfishness — or perhaps unrecognized heroism?) of a daughter returning from rehab. The conflicts between the family members — the (by turns, blushing and bitter) bride, Rachel (Rosemarie DeWitt); the self-absorbed sister (Anne Hathaway); the overcompensating father (Bill Irwin); the emotionally closed-off mother (Debra Winger) — are so finely drawn that your sympathies usually lie with whoever spoke last. Continue reading

Ever been to one of those weddings that just will not end?

“Rachel Getting Married” is the cinematic equivalent, a movie with a powerful performance from Anne Hathaway but a story undone by the self-indulgence of director Jonathan Demme, who loiters interminably on some scenes.

Demme’s detours into documentaries (“Neil Young: Heart of Gold,” “Jimmy Carter: Man From Plains”) actually serve him well as he crafts a loose, docudrama style that infuses great authenticity into this anguished reunion tale of family and friends. Continue reading