Rachel Getting Married (2008)

A young woman who has been in and out of rehab for the past ten years, returns home for the weekend for her sister's wedding.

Director:

Jonathan Demme

Writer:

Jenny Lumet

Stars:

Anne Hathaway, Rosemarie DeWitt, Debra Winger

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 32 wins & 63 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Sebastian Stan	...	Walter / Bowtie Party Guest
Roslyn Ruff	...	Rosa
Anne Hathaway	...	Kym
Bill Irwin	...	Paul
Anna Deavere Smith	...	Carol
Annaleigh Ashford	...	Quick Stop Cashier
Zafer Tawil	...	Violin Friend
Beau Sia	...	Wedding Czar
Innbo Shim	...	Wedding Planner
Eliza Simpson	...	Wedding P.A.
Olive	...	The Poodle
Rosemarie DeWitt	...	Rachel
Anisa George	...	Emma
Tamyra Gray	...	Singing Friend
Victoria Haynes	...	Bridesmaid

Storyline

Kym Buchman has been in drug rehab for nine months, during which time she has been clean. She is released temporarily from the facility to attend her sister Rachel Buchman's wedding. During her release, Kym is staying at the family home, where the wedding is taking place. As such, it is like Grand Central Station for the duration of Kym's stay, which may not be the most conducive situation for her in constantly being exposed to the watching eyes of those who know and don't yet know her, but know of her situation. The reunion with her family members starts off well enough, but issues around Kym's release from rehab quickly surface. Kym and Rachel's father, Paul Buchman, wants to make sure that Kym is all right at all times, which to Kym feels instead like he doesn't trust her. Rachel slowly begins to resent Kym's situation taking over what is supposed to be the happiest day of her life, some of which is directed by Kym, some of which isn't. One person present but largely not included ...

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Plot Keywords:

divorce | panties | bra | girl | sitting on a toilet | 

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Taglines:

A story about all the drama.

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Genres:

Drama | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language and brief sexuality

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

31 October 2008 (Spain)

Also Known As:

Dancing with Shiva

Filming Locations:

Fairfield, Connecticut, USA

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$293,369, 5 October 2008

Gross USA:

$12,796,841

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$16,623,013

Company Credits

Production Co:

Armian Pictures, Clinica Estetico, Marc Platt Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

113 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color (DeLuxe)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Both Anne Hathaway and Sebastian Stan played comic book characters in separate movies. Anne Hathaway portrayed Catwoman/Selina Kyle in The Dark Knight Rises (2012). Sebastian Stan portrays Winter Solider/James "Bucky" Barnes in Captain America The First Avenger (2011), Captain America The Winter Solider (2014), Captain America: Civil War (2016), and Avengers: Infinity War (2018) and Avengers: Endgame . Also known as, the white wolf.

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Goofs

Kym has a car wreck on the eve of her sister's wedding by driving straight into a huge rock. When the tow truck driver drops her off at home, you can see the front of the car has no damage.

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Quotes

Rachel: Kym, you took Ethan for granted. Okay? You were high for his life. You were not present. Okay? You were high.
Kym: [Whispering] Yes.
Rachel: And you drove him off a bridge... and now he's dead.
Paul: [Tearfully] Rachel, it was an accident.
Kym: Yes, I was. Yes, I was stoned out of my mind. Who do I have to be now? I mean, I could be Mother Teresa and it wouldn't make a difference, what I did. Did I sacrifice every bit of... love I'm allowed for this life because I killed our little brother?

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Connections

Referenced in Gossip Girl: Rufus Getting Married (2009)

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Soundtracks

Rice Field Chant
Written by Roberto Colella and Riccardo Mazzamauro
Performed by Black Bombay
Courtesy of Funky Juice Recordings
By arrangement with The Royalty Network, Inc.

User Reviews

Family, Rehab, Wedding and Amends

Greetings again from the darkness. After the first 5 minutes, I hated Anne Hathaway's character and I was sea-sick from director Jonathan Demme's hand-held camera work. And then two hours later I felt like I had just attended a family wedding! I got fully sucked in by Jenny Lumet's (daughter of Sidney, the master) riveting story of a family ripped apart and trying desperately to hold on to what is left.

While Hathaway's Kym is getting all the pub, I found Rosemarie DeWitt's Rachel every bit as mesmerizing, though a bit less laser-tongue equipped. Their scenes together are mind-warping ... truly like watching footage of a train wreck over and over. They love and hate each other, all while being loved and hated by everyone else in the family. So much self-destructiveness that it makes one wonder why apparent sweet guy Sidney (played oddly by Tunde Adedimpbe of TV on the Radio) wants to have anything to do with this ghastly group.

Just to make sure you are absolutely uncomfortable, Lumet tosses in the rarely seen Debra Winger as Kym and Rachel's estranged mother, who has emotionally backed out of their life completely so as not to feel the guilt she deserves for the death of the youngest sibling.

There is no way to watch this movie without numerous moments of being squeamish or uncomfortable. That is really the strength of the film ... it draws you into this world that you just don't want to be a part of.