Margot at the Wedding (2007)

User Rating:

6.2/10   

Director:

Noah Baumbach

Writer (WGA):

Noah Baumbach (written by)

Release Date:

21 February 2008 (Australia)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama

Tagline:

One family. Infinite degrees of separation.

Plot:

Margot and her son Claude decide to visit her sister Pauline after she announces that she is getting married to less-than-impressive Malcolm. In short order, the storm the sisters create leaves behind a a mess of thrashed relationships and exposed family secrets.

Plot Keywords:

Neighbor | Relationship | Female Masturbation | Gay Couple | Dysfunctional Family

Awards:

2 wins & 6 nominations

Cast

Zane Pais	...	Claude
Susan Blackwell	...	Woman on Train
Nicole Kidman	...	Margot
Jack Black	...	Malcolm
Flora Cross	...	Ingrid
Jennifer Jason Leigh	...	Pauline
Seth Barrish	...	Toby
Matthew Arkin	...	Alan
Michael Cullen	...	Mr. Vogler
Enid Graham	...	Mrs. Vogler
Sophie Nyweide	...	Vogler Daughter
Justin Roth	...	Vogler Son
Ciarán Hinds	...	Dick Koosman
Halley Feiffer	...	Maisy Koosman
Joanthan Scwartz	...	Malcolm's Friend

Also Known As:

Untitled Noah Baumbach Project (USA) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated R for sexual content and language.

Runtime:

93 min | USA:91 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

SDDS | Dolby Digital | DTS

Certification:

USA:R | Canada:14A | Ireland:16 | UK:15 | Argentina:13 | Germany:12 | Australia:M | Netherlands:12 | South Korea:18 | Singapore:NC-16 | Finland:K-13 | Sweden:7 | Portugal:M/12

Filming Locations:

City Island, Bronx, New York City, New York, USA

Company:

Scott Rudin Productions

Trivia:

The cinematographer, Harris Savides, used old lenses and shot mostly in natural light to get the dim, ominous look of the film.

Goofs:

Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): Malcolm has trouble recollecting the bassist for Motley Crue, and then remembers that it's Mick Mars. The bass player for Motley Crue is actually Nikki Sixx, although this mistake could have been intentional to further convey the forgetfulness.

Quotes:

Malcolm: I haven't had that thing yet, where you realize that you're not the most important person in the world.

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Siskel & Ebert & the Movies: (2007-11-17)" (2007)

Soundtrack:

Easy to Be Around

Unpleasant characters, yes, but....

...watching these folks tear into one another was satisfying, surprisingly funny, and triumph for the director and actors.

To be able to witness Nicole Kidman and Jennifer Jason Leigh's level of artistry here is enough for the price of admission, but Baumbach's testament to the insecurities that family rearing saddles us with is dark, purging fun. Jack Black, who usually outshines most of the films he's cast in, melts right in here. I have a greater respect for him since he holds his own with Kidman and Leigh.

Any melancholy sentiment that "The Squid and the Whale" longs to recapture in our family lives is quickly killed off here. The daggers are drawn, the pathetic defenses we all wish we had get tromped on and thrown in the garbage. Even the overt violence that bubbles up in a neighbor's family seems pitiful in the face of astonishingly brutal word games that are played out here.

What's wonderful is that we see the vulnerability behind all the sparing, the longing for acceptance and comfort...that here most likely will never be attained. And would we want these people to ever not be as pathetic as they are? Their monstrous behavior towards one another is almost healing since we're at such a safe distance from it. Even Woody Allen never gave us neurotic characters who are so damaged and so much fun.

I hope we get to see them in all their misery sometime in the future. The observations of them is both as satisfying and as rich as in the films of Truffaut.