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Review: Rachel Getting Married (2008)
I didn't really like this movie. I see that this film has a lot of accolades, but it didn't connect with me, especially in its story telling.
Spoilers.
Story
Kym was temporarily allowed to go home from rehab to attend her sister's wedding. During the course of the wedding, we discover more about her background, her guilt, and her family relations. When she returned to rehab, Kym was in a better place emotionally and it seemed her relationships with her family were better.
I think a lot of the movie turned me off a bit because weddings in general are just kind of a train wreck. We had all of those speeches with inside jokes, dated family humour (like the dishwashing loading contest), etc. It was just really hard for me to relate to. Also, I wasn't really sure if anyone from Sidney's family was of Indian descent, because otherwise, having an Indian themed wedding would seem pretty off.
What the movie did do in an interesting way were the long conversations. They were particularly important in the beginning when we saw how the conversations between Kym and her family would always escalate because of years of tension. Funnily enough, after the wedding, when the relations between the family members were better, there were less conversations overall.
I do want to discuss the point at which the story took a turn though. After yet another argument, Kym drove to her mom Abby's house, where Kym and Abby got into an argument over why Abby left Kym in charge of watching Ethan when she knew she was a drug addict. In truth, it's reasonable to say that both carried part of the blame, Abby for leaving Ethan with an unreliable teenage drug addict and Kym for not monitoring her habit when watching over her little brother. Anyway, Kym and Abby slapped each other and Kym stormed off. She tried to drive through a bunch of trees to commit suicide but was unsuccessful.
When Kym returned home, everything seemed better. That seemed...a bit off. I do understand that maybe Rachel seeing Kym all battered made her pity Kym and the pain/guilt she'd been harbouring. As for Kym, I'm still trying to wrap my head around why she was sullen and less confrontational. Maybe she felt guilt for ending her own life, or she was just tired of always fighting. But since few words were exchanged between the sisters, it didn't really give me too much information to project how their relationship would go.
I suppose that before, Kym and Rachel spent so much time arguing and the movie wanted to take away the conversations to show that this was a healthier way for them to reconcile. But I just didn't feel convinced and satisfied with the ending of the movie.
I did start out detesting Kym because she was so self-centered, but by the time she went to see her mom, I also sympathized with her. I just didn't understand Rachel's journey from hating her to wanting to be nice to her.
So I guess the story was fine, but in my mind, it was missing some pieces.
Production
The movie mostly followed Kym around with a sort of unsteady frame. I think it was supposed to match the casual tone of the movie, which spent a lot of time on regular conversations between the characters.
The acting was fine. Nothing stood out to me though, even if Anne Hathaway did receive a nomination for her performance. She delivered her part but I didn't really feel anything for her.
Characters
Kym
Kym started off the movie appearing pretty self centered. Everything had to be about her, from her not being the maid of honour, to delivering a speech that ended up being her journey through rehab and giving a half-assed apology.
I think the first big turn in my impression of Kym would be in her meeting where she told the story of how Ethan died. Ethan was brought up a couple of times before that but I was still confused about who he was. I did start to sympathize with Kym, but I also felt that it was a bit of a jarring way to reveal information compared to how most other things in the movie had been revealed through conversations instead of monologues.
After that point, we started to see how Kym had struggled with her own guilt and poor habits. I still thought Kym had bad attitudes, but it was also not difficult for me to sympathize with her.
The next big turn was the conversation and fight with her mother. Kym wanted to push the blame onto her mother, who pushed the blame back. The conversation ended with them slapping each other and Kym leaving while sobbing. I think Kym was angry and felt that she'd been made to carry this burden alone while her mother seemed to be living a good life with her new husband in a nice house.
My best guess is that the attempted suicide was Kym's reason for being sullen the next day, but it didn't really sit right with me. Like it didn't make complete sense. Of course, I would be sullen too if I'd tried that, but in the context of a movie, I felt like there should've been a bit more for me to understand.
By the end of the movie, Kym seemed to return home happier, with her sister seeing her off. So I guess we're supposed to be hopeful for her recovery.
Rachel
Rachel was tired of Kym always being the center of attention in their family life and in the eyes of her father, with whom she'd lived. Her attitude hadn't really changed up until Kym returned home after the suicide attempt, and Rachel handled Kym with care. I think Rachel felt bad for Kym's physical injuries.
Their last conversation before that, Kym had said that no matter what she did, she'd still be wracked with guilt over killing Ethan, and she could be the best person she could and she'd still be labelled a monster for her crime. I think Rachel took that into consideration. While Kym wasn't the best kind of person at the moment, she needed encouragement and support to get better, and I think that might've been what made Rachel decide that she needed to forgive and move on.
Paul
Paul was accused by Rachel of always putting Kym first, even in childhood. Whether or not that was true, in the time that the movie took place, I think his attentiveness was warranted. Paul was just trying to show care for a daughter that he didn't have around all the time, and Kym mistook that as spying. And when Kym asked to borrow his car, Paul refused for safety/insurance reasons, which I think would be reasonable considering Kym's past and the fact that she probably hadn't driven in a while since she'd been at rehab.
By the end, I think Kym felt bad for making Paul worry about her all the time, but she didn't really have the guts to face him before she left. I think she does want to make amends to him eventually for making him worry.
Abby
Abby's development was also a bit weird. She had a smaller role in the sisters' lives. Rachel felt weird about her mom only having a small part, but Abby insisted it was fine.
We really only found out more about Abby in her fight with Kym. Abby insisted that Kym was her best self when she was playing with Ethan and taking care of him. But if we take a step back, Kym wasn't wrong in saying that it was irresponsible of Abby to put Kym in charge, knowing Kym's history of drug abuse.
The next time we saw Abby, she was leaving Rachel's party early, saying that she and her husband had to go to Washington. They left the wedding after Rachel hugged both Abby and Kym.
This side of the story seemed rather unresolved. Kym and Abby hadn't spoken since their fight. While to the audience, it seemed obvious that both mother and daughter had some responsibility, we never got to see Abby's side of the story. All we could see was that she was living a new life, as far removed from Rachel, Kym, and Paul as possible. It felt like Abby wasn't suffering from guilt as much as Kym did. Not saying that I wanted to see Abby in pain, but it would've made more sense if we were to believe that Abby should've also bore some punishment. Perhaps her absence from the family was her punishment.
Emma
Emma was Rachel's best friend and the initial maid of honour. She had a harsher stance against Kym, thinking that she was irresponsible and such. Towards the end, she was kind of on okay terms with Kym? Again, that reconciliation kind of came from nowhere.
Kieran
Kieran was someone at Kym's addicts anonymous meeting and also Sidney's best friend and best man. He didn't really have much of a role except for being Kym's one friend, and explaining to the family that rehab was hard. And at the end, he gave Kym his number. His character seemed kind of unnecessary if his only role was to be a love interest :/
Themes
Guilt
Guilt was the biggest one, but I didn't really think that this movie brought up anything that hasn't been said before. Kym was suffering a lot of guilt over killing her younger brother, and it was a point of strain between her and her family.
However, she was already a drug addict before she'd killed Ethan, so I would think that Ethan's death had only compounded any strained relationships between her and her family.
Again, I'm still wrapping my head around the sudden change in relationships after the attempted suicide, but I'm not sure that the movie did a good enough job to connect the dots in a way that was novel and meaningful.
Overall
As I was writing this movie, I think I slowly stopped trying to convince myself that it was actually good. I know some people enjoyed it, looking at Reddit discussions, but it wasn't a satisfying movie to me.
While I do enjoy movies that don't spoon-feed me anything, there were just parts of the story that didn't really connect for me. I would have to make jumps in my head and fill in the gaps by making things up in order to justify the behaviours of the characters by the end.
The wedding activities themselves were also kind of cringey and I couldn't relate to them (e.g. really corny speeches).
I wouldn't really recommend this movie. It wasn't the worst that I've seen. But the movie as a whole package with all of its components didn't win me over and convince me of an emotional story of self-reflection and reconciliation.
Spoilers.
Story
Kym was temporarily allowed to go home from rehab to attend her sister's wedding. During the course of the wedding, we discover more about her background, her guilt, and her family relations. When she returned to rehab, Kym was in a better place emotionally and it seemed her relationships with her family were better.
I think a lot of the movie turned me off a bit because weddings in general are just kind of a train wreck. We had all of those speeches with inside jokes, dated family humour (like the dishwashing loading contest), etc. It was just really hard for me to relate to. Also, I wasn't really sure if anyone from Sidney's family was of Indian descent, because otherwise, having an Indian themed wedding would seem pretty off.
What the movie did do in an interesting way were the long conversations. They were particularly important in the beginning when we saw how the conversations between Kym and her family would always escalate because of years of tension. Funnily enough, after the wedding, when the relations between the family members were better, there were less conversations overall.
I do want to discuss the point at which the story took a turn though. After yet another argument, Kym drove to her mom Abby's house, where Kym and Abby got into an argument over why Abby left Kym in charge of watching Ethan when she knew she was a drug addict. In truth, it's reasonable to say that both carried part of the blame, Abby for leaving Ethan with an unreliable teenage drug addict and Kym for not monitoring her habit when watching over her little brother. Anyway, Kym and Abby slapped each other and Kym stormed off. She tried to drive through a bunch of trees to commit suicide but was unsuccessful.
When Kym returned home, everything seemed better. That seemed...a bit off. I do understand that maybe Rachel seeing Kym all battered made her pity Kym and the pain/guilt she'd been harbouring. As for Kym, I'm still trying to wrap my head around why she was sullen and less confrontational. Maybe she felt guilt for ending her own life, or she was just tired of always fighting. But since few words were exchanged between the sisters, it didn't really give me too much information to project how their relationship would go.
I suppose that before, Kym and Rachel spent so much time arguing and the movie wanted to take away the conversations to show that this was a healthier way for them to reconcile. But I just didn't feel convinced and satisfied with the ending of the movie.
I did start out detesting Kym because she was so self-centered, but by the time she went to see her mom, I also sympathized with her. I just didn't understand Rachel's journey from hating her to wanting to be nice to her.
So I guess the story was fine, but in my mind, it was missing some pieces.
Production
The movie mostly followed Kym around with a sort of unsteady frame. I think it was supposed to match the casual tone of the movie, which spent a lot of time on regular conversations between the characters.
The acting was fine. Nothing stood out to me though, even if Anne Hathaway did receive a nomination for her performance. She delivered her part but I didn't really feel anything for her.
Characters
Kym
Kym started off the movie appearing pretty self centered. Everything had to be about her, from her not being the maid of honour, to delivering a speech that ended up being her journey through rehab and giving a half-assed apology.
I think the first big turn in my impression of Kym would be in her meeting where she told the story of how Ethan died. Ethan was brought up a couple of times before that but I was still confused about who he was. I did start to sympathize with Kym, but I also felt that it was a bit of a jarring way to reveal information compared to how most other things in the movie had been revealed through conversations instead of monologues.
After that point, we started to see how Kym had struggled with her own guilt and poor habits. I still thought Kym had bad attitudes, but it was also not difficult for me to sympathize with her.
The next big turn was the conversation and fight with her mother. Kym wanted to push the blame onto her mother, who pushed the blame back. The conversation ended with them slapping each other and Kym leaving while sobbing. I think Kym was angry and felt that she'd been made to carry this burden alone while her mother seemed to be living a good life with her new husband in a nice house.
My best guess is that the attempted suicide was Kym's reason for being sullen the next day, but it didn't really sit right with me. Like it didn't make complete sense. Of course, I would be sullen too if I'd tried that, but in the context of a movie, I felt like there should've been a bit more for me to understand.
By the end of the movie, Kym seemed to return home happier, with her sister seeing her off. So I guess we're supposed to be hopeful for her recovery.
Rachel
Rachel was tired of Kym always being the center of attention in their family life and in the eyes of her father, with whom she'd lived. Her attitude hadn't really changed up until Kym returned home after the suicide attempt, and Rachel handled Kym with care. I think Rachel felt bad for Kym's physical injuries.
Their last conversation before that, Kym had said that no matter what she did, she'd still be wracked with guilt over killing Ethan, and she could be the best person she could and she'd still be labelled a monster for her crime. I think Rachel took that into consideration. While Kym wasn't the best kind of person at the moment, she needed encouragement and support to get better, and I think that might've been what made Rachel decide that she needed to forgive and move on.
Paul
Paul was accused by Rachel of always putting Kym first, even in childhood. Whether or not that was true, in the time that the movie took place, I think his attentiveness was warranted. Paul was just trying to show care for a daughter that he didn't have around all the time, and Kym mistook that as spying. And when Kym asked to borrow his car, Paul refused for safety/insurance reasons, which I think would be reasonable considering Kym's past and the fact that she probably hadn't driven in a while since she'd been at rehab.
By the end, I think Kym felt bad for making Paul worry about her all the time, but she didn't really have the guts to face him before she left. I think she does want to make amends to him eventually for making him worry.
Abby
Abby's development was also a bit weird. She had a smaller role in the sisters' lives. Rachel felt weird about her mom only having a small part, but Abby insisted it was fine.
We really only found out more about Abby in her fight with Kym. Abby insisted that Kym was her best self when she was playing with Ethan and taking care of him. But if we take a step back, Kym wasn't wrong in saying that it was irresponsible of Abby to put Kym in charge, knowing Kym's history of drug abuse.
The next time we saw Abby, she was leaving Rachel's party early, saying that she and her husband had to go to Washington. They left the wedding after Rachel hugged both Abby and Kym.
This side of the story seemed rather unresolved. Kym and Abby hadn't spoken since their fight. While to the audience, it seemed obvious that both mother and daughter had some responsibility, we never got to see Abby's side of the story. All we could see was that she was living a new life, as far removed from Rachel, Kym, and Paul as possible. It felt like Abby wasn't suffering from guilt as much as Kym did. Not saying that I wanted to see Abby in pain, but it would've made more sense if we were to believe that Abby should've also bore some punishment. Perhaps her absence from the family was her punishment.
Emma
Emma was Rachel's best friend and the initial maid of honour. She had a harsher stance against Kym, thinking that she was irresponsible and such. Towards the end, she was kind of on okay terms with Kym? Again, that reconciliation kind of came from nowhere.
Kieran
Kieran was someone at Kym's addicts anonymous meeting and also Sidney's best friend and best man. He didn't really have much of a role except for being Kym's one friend, and explaining to the family that rehab was hard. And at the end, he gave Kym his number. His character seemed kind of unnecessary if his only role was to be a love interest :/
Themes
Guilt
Guilt was the biggest one, but I didn't really think that this movie brought up anything that hasn't been said before. Kym was suffering a lot of guilt over killing her younger brother, and it was a point of strain between her and her family.
However, she was already a drug addict before she'd killed Ethan, so I would think that Ethan's death had only compounded any strained relationships between her and her family.
Again, I'm still wrapping my head around the sudden change in relationships after the attempted suicide, but I'm not sure that the movie did a good enough job to connect the dots in a way that was novel and meaningful.
Overall
As I was writing this movie, I think I slowly stopped trying to convince myself that it was actually good. I know some people enjoyed it, looking at Reddit discussions, but it wasn't a satisfying movie to me.
While I do enjoy movies that don't spoon-feed me anything, there were just parts of the story that didn't really connect for me. I would have to make jumps in my head and fill in the gaps by making things up in order to justify the behaviours of the characters by the end.
The wedding activities themselves were also kind of cringey and I couldn't relate to them (e.g. really corny speeches).
I wouldn't really recommend this movie. It wasn't the worst that I've seen. But the movie as a whole package with all of its components didn't win me over and convince me of an emotional story of self-reflection and reconciliation.