I think we all know someone like Kym (Anne Hathaway). The person we invite to gatherings but don't particularly want to, the person whose mere presence makes any situation more precarious, the person who's always taking our last dollar with a smile and a promise that this is the last time. Are you thinking of that person right now? Imagine if she was your sister (maybe she is), and if she showed up at your wedding (maybe she has). Then you'll get the gist of Rachel Getting Married.
Kym has been in rehab for nine months, and is being let out for the weekend to attend her sister Rachel's (Rosemarie DeWitt) wedding. Their dad Paul (Bill Irwin) and his wife Carol (Anna Deavere Smith) treat Kym with kid gloves, but Rachel won't have any of her bullshit; she hates Kym and doesn't want her there, yet is persuaded to make her maid of honor. Their mother Abby (Debra Winger) lives alone, and is spoken of more than she is seen. There's something between her and her children that can't be discussed.
The groom is played by Tunde Adebimpe, the lead singer of TV on the Radio, so it's fitting that his Sidney has some kind of position in the music industry. As such, his friends are a little more colorful than Rachel's, and they include Kieran (Mather Zickel), whom Kym meets at an AA meeting before the wedding. The two take an immediate liking to one another; he's the stable alkie, she's the uncontrollable druggie.
Those are really all the pieces of the plot. Rachel Getting Married isn't driven by story, but by circumstance. Not a lot actually happens, but it's a hell of an experience nonetheless. If you threw a bunch of real world people into these situations and asked them to tote around a camcorder, I think the results would be pretty much the same as the finished film, especially since director Jonathan Demme and cinematographer Declan Quinn opt for lots of naturalistic handheld camerawork. There are quick cuts, zooms, and shaky pans, making us feel as if we're actually in the room.
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