Black Wedding Day
Along with her teenage son Claude (Zane Pais), Margot (Nicole Kidman - Bewitched) has returned home as her sister Pauline (Jennifer Jason Leigh - The Machinist) is getting married to Malcolm (Jack Black - The Holiday). But it is not an easy return home as Margot is in the process of getting divorced and doesn't think Malcolm is the right man for her sister. It leads to tension between them and that leads to some old issues resurfacing whilst some new secrets come out.
Do you enjoy watching movies where not only the dialogue dominates the movie but dialogue where it is either insanely dull or insanely bitchy? I don't, these sorts of movies where the dialogue is uninteresting are a real switch off as observing people talking about preferring showers or baths is not exactly riveting. And so I have to say that "Margot at the Wedding" didn't do it for me.
In fact it was not only the dialogue which didn't do it for me as the whole dysfunctional set up of a sister returning home was just as interesting. It's party because if I want to watch a family not getting on and make snide comments to each other I don't need to go to the cinema or put on a DVD. But also because dysfunctional reunions have been done before and unless something entertaining happens all it ends up being is characters being nasty to each other which isn't entertaining. It is why the sexual scenes in "Margot at the Wedding" end up being the most memorable thing.
Having said that there is no denying that writer & director Noah Baumbach has drawn out some good performances from his stars with Nicole Kidman and Jennifer Jason Leigh working well together. In fact Baumbach has managed to also tame the Jack Black and those little things he does in so many movies are not here which makes a pleasant change.
What this all boils down to is that "Margot at the Wedding" wasn't for me and with it mainly being a movie of dialogue which sways between the inane to the violent it isn't going to be for everyone. But it is a movie with good performances and it is those performances more than anything which make it just about bearable.
