W. and Rachel Getting Married

Here are a few words (and I mean few) about two films that I saw today.

W. is Oliver Stone's character study of President George W. Bush. W. is by no means a great film. In fact, it sags in places. I think that Stone was in such a rush to finish it before the election that he was not careful about the editing. But the film has its moments and you certainly get a number of laughs.

However, I must say that Josh Brolin is just amazing as Bush. I couldn't believe how well he captured the man. His performance is worth the price of admission. Stone starts off with him being a cocky young man and by the end of the film we feel sorry for him (my empathy didn't last long). But no matter what, Brolin is top notch. James Cromwell is also terrific as Bush Senior. Some to the best scenes are between father and son. The tension is so thick that you need a knife to cut it. I got the impression that W. decided to run for Governor of Texas and President not because he was really all that interested but to show his father that he could do it.
Bush Senior always thought that Jeb was the one who was going to be president. Richard Dreyfus was also great as the slimy Dick Cheney. Some of the other cast members, particularly Thandie Newton as Condi Rice, do not fare as well.

W. is a pretty standard bio pic. I would say that Brolin could very well pick up some nominations during awards season and maybe Cromwell will too. That said, as election time is near I do think that this is an important film to see because it will show us what we have now and what should not choose in the future.

Rachel Getting Married has gotten rave reviews from most critics. Some have even called it a masterpiece. But I also know some people who did not like it at all. So I really didn't go into the theater with any type of expectations.

I can say that it is Jonathan Demme's best feature film in a long time (he has made a number of wonderful documentaries during the last few years). The script was written by Jenny Lumet. And it is at times quite sensitive. Rachel (Rosemarie DeWitt) is marrying her partner Sidney (Tunde Adebimpe) at her father Paul's (Bill Irwin) home in Connecticut. Her sister Kym (Anne Hathaway) is getting out of rehab for the weekend so that she can attend the wedding. And you can bet that there will be a lot a tension all throughout the weekend. There are a number of confrontations between the sisters and between Kym and their mother Abbey (Debra Winger).

There is a secret that we find out about during the film. I will not say what it is but it is very devastating. All of the scenes in which this dysfunctional family deal with each other are very powerful. However, a lot of the film is made up of the wedding festivities and I thought that there was too much of that. The pre-wedding dinner was especially frustrating. It seemed that it went on forever - I mean did we need to see all of those people wishing the couple well. I think that Demme should have cut some of it out. And the hand held camera, which was probably used to make things seem intimate, didn't always work.

The acting by all four family members is wonderful and I think that Hathaway and DeWitt in particular could do well during awards season. I walked away from the film feeling very sad - I even cried a bit when I left the theater. So the verdict -
on an emotional level Rachel Getting Married worked for me. But as a piece of cinema it could have been even better and I, for one, cannot say that I think this is one of the best movies of the year.