Vacation Catch-up: Rachel Getting Married

While this was in the theaters where we were, we'd also brought it with us on DVD (courtesy of Netflix) and we chose not to spend the extra money. However, it's a great movie either way you see it. Anne Hathaway is Kym, a recovering addict who has terrorized her family for ages with her addiction so they're constantly wary of everything she does. They won't let her borrow the car, and basically don't trust her with anything. Now she's returned home for her sister, Rachel's, wedding, to find she's not the maid of honor (losing out to a friend, again for lack of trust that Kym would show up for the wedding). Rachel and her fiancee are really laid back and planning very non-traditional wedding, with women wearing saris and friends playing music. The rehersal dinner has everyone giving toasts, and Kym uses hers to attempt the making amends step of her recovery so we watch her basically talk about herself and the stupid things she's done, and basically put down her sister and family. In fact, she tends to make all conversations about her. There's a huge family secret living just under the service of all the wedding activity and it's slowly tearing each character apart, but it's obvious who has dealt with the problem, and who has just ignored it and let it fester. The acting is superb and it's actually a story of fairly funny people trying to survive the traditional ceremony in a non-traditional way while coming to terms with a horrible loss. I liked it and recommend it. 3.5 Stars/Lambs