BEFORE: Final day of the Anne Hathaway chain (Hath-a-thon?) which I think ended up matching the Aniston-a-thon from earlier in the month. I'm not sure this counts as a full-fledged romance pic, but I assume at least there is a wedding.
THE PLOT: A young woman who has been in and out from rehab for the past 10 years returns home for the weekend for her sister's wedding.
AFTER: This is essentially what you get out of a wedding/romance comedy when you remove the soundtrack, the slapstick, and the switcheroos. Oh, and the comedy, too. So I guess this really isn't a rom-com after all. It's more of a portrait of a family that's been touched by tragedy, and trying to move forward while putting on a brave face. The main character, Kym, is a recovering addict, and you see the way that her addiction and her drawn-out recovery has affected the whole family. When she shows up for her sister's wedding her presence and interactions threaten to torpedo the whole thing.
Perhaps this is the way things like this tend to go, with people in recovery having a tendency to make everything about them and their process, and their surrender to a higher power, and their need to get to a meeting - but the question then becomes, does it make for a film that I want to see? Mostly, that answer is no.
The bride, Rachel, wonders why she can't just have ONE day, her special day, and it's a valid question. Everyone says that the wedding is all about the bride, but what they all really mean is, it's all about MY impression of what the bride's day should be, or MY recollection of the bride's history. The scene at the rehearsal dinner where everyone in the bride or groom's life has to stand up and wish the couple well, or tell a story, or read a poem, or perform a violin concerto, went on WAY too long. Kym's attempt to make amends and apologize (without really making amends or apologizing) was of course the worst of the lot, but that's not saying much - she wasn't the only self-indulgent one.
Eventually we learn about the family tragedy that's always lurking just under the surface, and every attempt to bring it up or reconcile things turns into another toxic circular argument, with people either losing it or storming off without resolving anything, so the cycle continues. Again, probably a very real-ish situation, but I'm forced to question whether it has any place in entertainment.
I can see an actress wanting to take on the challenge of playing someone in recovery, getting into the headspace of someone who is caught in a cycle of addiction and remorse, who's still clueless about how her actions impact on others. Like the extended family members, though, I wondered why we couldn't just have 5 minutes where we're not talking about this stuff.
Also starring Bill Irwin (last seen in "The Manchurian Candidate"), Sebastian Stan (last seen in "Black Swan"), Debra Winger, Rosemarie DeWitt, Anna Deavere Smith, with cameos from Tamyra Gray and Robyn Hitchcock.
RATING: 3 out of 10 seating charts
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