David O'ConnellNicole Kidman is Margot at the Wedding
October 20th 2008 05:36
Noah Baumbach’s follow-up to his impressive 2005 effort The Squid and the Whale is another bittersweet exploration of the troubled relationships within a dysfunctional family.
Margot at the Wedding is a study of two sisters, Margot (Nicole Kidman) and Pauline (Jennifer Jason Leigh), who are drawn together after a period of estrangement; the occasion is Pauline’s impending marriage to a man with issues of his own, failed musician and writer Malcolm (Jack Black).
Margot is a complex woman, a celebrated short-story writer but unstable in ways, her life in a state of constant flux, with the demands of raising her pre-pubescent son Claude (Zane Pais) juxtaposed against the ghosts of her troubled childhood and a torturous failed marriage to Jim (John Turturro).
She’s an aloof and arrogant woman who seems to engender resentment in others whilst passing brutal judgement on them. She quickly assesses the unemployed, creatively-crippled dreamer Malcolm as being utterly unworthy of her sister.
Margot’s relationship with her son Claude is a curious one; you sense the ambivalence of obligation in his annoying – to her - presence at times, and yet her love seems a real, though passive one which wavers with the wild, destructive fluctuations of her own emotions.
We watch this gathering of disparate characters over a few days as they countdown to a Saturday wedding at the seaside family home in New England; but the most relevant question is whether they’ll all make it to the big day with their relationships still intact.
The wedding is supposed to take place beneath a huge tree on the property, one which Margot would skillfully climb as a regular childhood stunt; its existence is under threat, however, from crude, unruly neighbours, and its fate proves it to be the most potent and obvious symbol of the family’s fortunes.
Further complications for all rear their heads in the form of Margot’s lover, Dick (Ciaran Hinds) who lives near by and his sexually alluring 18 year old daughter Maisy (Halley Feiffer).
Kidman has rarely been better; and even playing a troubled, unfulfilled and extremely unsympathetic character she’s luminous and compelling to watch, with Baumbach’s intelligent, sharply-honed screenplay giving her plenty of fascinating material to experiment with.
Jennifer Jason Leigh (who is married to Baumbach), whilst not nearly as overpowering, is a perfect counterweight as a misguided, troubled soul living in the intimidating shadow of her famous sister; their interactions are very naturalistic, with the implied weight of history between them convincingly rendered. There are veiled references to their tumultuous childhood, their derelict father chiefly responsible for the psychological scars they carry.
Though well cast against type in a serious role, Black elicits pity and laughs in equal measure as Malcolm, with his envious, twisted view of the world and the competitors he feels he's striving against for limited moments of fame.
He effectively holds the illusion of his creative energies in place, but beneath the façade is a sweltering antipathy – a man who feels defeated to his core and has almost given up on life, his tenuous grip on hope existing predominantly in the form of Pauline, who remains devoted to him.
I found it fascinating watching these three main characters as they threatened to come apart at any moment; they’re like threads being slowly unwound, like faltering moths circling a burning globe – there’s a horrifying sense of inevitability about the fracturing of their fates.
Insightful and challenging, Margot at the Wedding is an unsettling, dark, but mesmerizing example of adult filmmaking at its best, as well as being further confirmation of the promise shown by writer-director Baumbach in The Squid and the Whale.
Margot at the Wedding is a study of two sisters, Margot (Nicole Kidman) and Pauline (Jennifer Jason Leigh), who are drawn together after a period of estrangement; the occasion is Pauline’s impending marriage to a man with issues of his own, failed musician and writer Malcolm (Jack Black).
Margot is a complex woman, a celebrated short-story writer but unstable in ways, her life in a state of constant flux, with the demands of raising her pre-pubescent son Claude (Zane Pais) juxtaposed against the ghosts of her troubled childhood and a torturous failed marriage to Jim (John Turturro).
She’s an aloof and arrogant woman who seems to engender resentment in others whilst passing brutal judgement on them. She quickly assesses the unemployed, creatively-crippled dreamer Malcolm as being utterly unworthy of her sister.
Margot’s relationship with her son Claude is a curious one; you sense the ambivalence of obligation in his annoying – to her - presence at times, and yet her love seems a real, though passive one which wavers with the wild, destructive fluctuations of her own emotions.
Margot's sister Pauline (Jennifer Jason Leigh) with Malcolm (Jack Black)
We watch this gathering of disparate characters over a few days as they countdown to a Saturday wedding at the seaside family home in New England; but the most relevant question is whether they’ll all make it to the big day with their relationships still intact.
The wedding is supposed to take place beneath a huge tree on the property, one which Margot would skillfully climb as a regular childhood stunt; its existence is under threat, however, from crude, unruly neighbours, and its fate proves it to be the most potent and obvious symbol of the family’s fortunes.
Further complications for all rear their heads in the form of Margot’s lover, Dick (Ciaran Hinds) who lives near by and his sexually alluring 18 year old daughter Maisy (Halley Feiffer).
The sisters sharing a rare laugh
Kidman has rarely been better; and even playing a troubled, unfulfilled and extremely unsympathetic character she’s luminous and compelling to watch, with Baumbach’s intelligent, sharply-honed screenplay giving her plenty of fascinating material to experiment with.
Jennifer Jason Leigh (who is married to Baumbach), whilst not nearly as overpowering, is a perfect counterweight as a misguided, troubled soul living in the intimidating shadow of her famous sister; their interactions are very naturalistic, with the implied weight of history between them convincingly rendered. There are veiled references to their tumultuous childhood, their derelict father chiefly responsible for the psychological scars they carry.
Though well cast against type in a serious role, Black elicits pity and laughs in equal measure as Malcolm, with his envious, twisted view of the world and the competitors he feels he's striving against for limited moments of fame.
An awkward homecoming for Margot
He effectively holds the illusion of his creative energies in place, but beneath the façade is a sweltering antipathy – a man who feels defeated to his core and has almost given up on life, his tenuous grip on hope existing predominantly in the form of Pauline, who remains devoted to him.
I found it fascinating watching these three main characters as they threatened to come apart at any moment; they’re like threads being slowly unwound, like faltering moths circling a burning globe – there’s a horrifying sense of inevitability about the fracturing of their fates.
Insightful and challenging, Margot at the Wedding is an unsettling, dark, but mesmerizing example of adult filmmaking at its best, as well as being further confirmation of the promise shown by writer-director Baumbach in The Squid and the Whale.
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Comment by Steve
Sorry Dave I tried.
Comment by Steve
Comment by David O'Connell
Screen Fanatic
It's about as close to being a chick flick as Scarface!