Margot at the Wedding

Written and Directed
by Noah Baumbach

It's quite clear that Noah Baumbach received too much praise for “The Squid and the Whale.” Not that it wasn't a good film, no, it actually was quite good, but it gave him delusions of grandeur and he was able to get a really great cast for an inferior script.

Margot(Nicole Kidman) and her son Claude(Zane Pais) are going to New England to attend the wedding of her sister Pauline(Jennifer Jason Leigh) to a schnook named Malcolm(Jack Black). The sisters hadn't talked to each other in years and we soon learn why. They're both insufferable bitches. So they, Pauline's daughter(Halley Feiffer) and Ingrid(Flora Cross) the maid go about their preparations doing pretty much nothing but bitch and moan about pretty much everything, while fighting with the even more insufferable neighbors. Meanwhile, we discover that Margot's been screwing another local, Dick(Ciaran Hinds), and there's a paid event at the local bookstore she's going to attend with him.

For most of the film, everyone seems to be getting along, even when Margot's husband Jim(John Turturro) unexpectedly shows up. Aside from Margot's extramarital shenanigans, which are only alluded to, none of the actual reasons for the dislike between the sisters is actually explored beyond a couple of throwaway lines here and there. As to the story, there's no real THERE there, and if it weren't for the terrific performances by Kidman and Leigh, there wouldn't be any actual reason to get out of the house and blow twenty bucks for you and your honey to go and see this thing.

What appears to be a cheap, pointless independent film with a bunch of major movie stars is just that. Unless You just HAVE to see everything Nicole Kidman is in, it's best not to bother.

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