Rachel Getting Married

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Jonathan Demme directs. Declan Quinn behind the camera. Donald Harrison Jr. scores. Tim Squyres cuts. Profitable at the box office. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

• 1Released 18 years ago.
• 2Directed by Jonathan Demme, shot by Declan Quinn. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
• 3Original score by Donald Harrison Jr.. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
• 4Editor Tim Squyres shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
• 5Anne Hathaway and Rosemarie DeWitt and Bill Irwin carry the top of the cast.
• 6Marketing tagline: "The perfect weekend for a wedding… but the storm is coming.".
• 7IMDB entry: tt1084950 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
• 8Classified under 10 themes, including "sibling relationship", "drug addiction", "sister", "connecticut".

The technical file

Cinematography

Declan Quinn

Original score

Donald Harrison Jr.

Editing

Tim Squyres

Production design

Ford Wheeler

Costume design

Susan Lyall

Runtime

113 min · 1h 53m

Aspect ratio (typical)

1.37:1 (Academy)

Status

Released

Budget

$12,000,000

Box office

$16,937,968

Return

141% of budget

Original language

EN

Certification (US)

R

IMDB

Rachel Getting Married (2008) ↗

Also by

Jonathan Demme

• 
  Enzo Avitabile Music Life

  2013 · ★ 10.0
• 
  The Silence of the Lambs

  1991 · ★ 8.3
• 
  Stop Making Sense

  1984 · ★ 8.3
• 
  Columbo

  1971 · ★ 8.1
• 
  The Killing

  2011 · ★ 7.8
• 
  Philadelphia

  1993 · ★ 7.7

Stills · wallpapers

Selected frames

Full-resolution frames — open one to save it as a wallpaper.

Wallpaper Wallpaper

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

• 

  ▶
  Official Trailer

  Trailer · Official

Community reviews

What people are saying

• DoryDarko2017-02-21
  ★ 6/10

  Rachel Getting Married left me feeling quite ambivalent. On the one hand I was really impressed with the acting (most notably from Anne Hathaway), on the other I just couldn't get myself to care. But that's really the director's doing; after all, it's his job to get me involved and to make me care about the story he's telling, and unfortunately, Jonathan Demme failed to do so with this film. Something that throws you off right from the start is the incredibly shaky hand-held camera. There isn't a steady shot throughout the entire film. It actually gave me a headache during the first five minutes. This, in combination with the lack of proper story- and character build-up makes you feel like you're watching a home video of some stranger's wedding. And it's not particularly interesting… Strangely enough, during some parts of the film I felt like I was watching a Louis Theroux documentary, because that's exactly the way it was filmed. I expected a gangly Englishman with dark glasses to walk in at any moment and start asking questions. Actually, that might have done this film a world of good… Scenes go on way too long without there being a clear point to it, and I just have to wonder why Demme decided to go this way. I mean, he has made some really good films in the past, and I was strangely surprised to see he directed this. It looks and feels more a graduation project from some film student, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but it is when your name is Jonathan Demme. I even fast-forwarded some parts because the scenes were really dragging and I got bored. I actually felt like turning it off a few times, and that doesn't happen to me lot. In the end though, I'm glad I stuck with it, because the second half of the film picks up the pace and finally introduces some real character drama. Simply put, this film is about a drug addict who gets leave from rehab for a few days to attend her sister's wedding and pretty much ruins the whole thing. Anne Hathaway is very impressive as Kym, a self-centred, reckless addict, and she plays her role convincingly. So much so even, that she manages to make you feel NOT sympathetic towards her character at all. She is completely self-absorbed and unlikable, and even steals her sister Rachel's thunder when she (Rachel) announces to her family that she is pregnant, and Kym immediately turns the conversation around and makes it all about her again, and does so on many more occasions. I know that many people who are related to drug addicts will be able to relate to these typical symptoms, so in that sense, it was all very real. On her part, Rosemarie DeWitt, who plays Rachel, was equally impressive as she firmly stood her ground as the loyalty-torn older sister who only asks to be in the spotlight for one day of her life, without her troubled sister claiming all the attention. However, the part that mostly struck a nerve with me was that of their dad, played by Bill Irwin, who is, more than anyone, caught in loyalty limbo, not wanting to have to choose sides between his two daughters. He doesn't overact his inner conflict in any way, yet he garners more sympathy than anyone, because he makes his pain so understandable. In fact, everything about Rachel getting married is all very human and relatable. The story (written by Jenny Lumet, daughter of Sidney!) is not one any of us have never heard before, but that's alright. We don't always need super complicated psycho-analysis with characters talking like they all studied Freud for the past twenty years. Sometimes, simple stories about human troubles are enough to carry a film. It may be somewhat predictable, with a quasi-happy ending, but it's still credible enough to leave you satisfied. And yet, I don't feel this film deserves much more than a 6, maybe a 7. And the fault of this lies entirely with the direction. The shaky home video style I mentioned earlier might work for The Blair Witch project, but not for a slow-paced character drama. And the pacing was just horrible. Some scenes were completely unnecessary and could have easily been cut down or even left out completely and nobody would have noticed. In fact, that would have helped a lot. It's really a shame, because the story is decent and the acting is great, but this is not a great film and it never will be. I do think it's worth the watch, especially if you want to see Anne Hathaway in what is probably a career-defining role. But from the man who made Philadelphia, this is a bitter disappointment. (October 2011)

  Read full review ↓

Production companies

Who made it

• 

  Clinica Estetico

  US

• 

  Marc Platt Productions

  US

• 

  Sony Pictures Classics

  US

Key crew

• ProducerNeda Armian
• ProducerJonathan Demme
• Executive ProducerCarol Cuddy
• Executive ProducerIlona Herzberg
• EditorTim Squyres
• CastingBernard Telsey
• Production DesignFord Wheeler
• Art DirectionKim Jennings
• Set DecorationChryss Hionis
• ProducerMarc Platt
• Casting AssociateTiffany Little Canfield
• Costume DesignSusan Lyall
• Second Second Assistant DirectorNate Grubb
• Second Assistant DirectorJennifer Truelove
• First Assistant DirectorH.H. Cooper
• StuntsJill Brown
• Associate ProducerEmily Woodburne
• Associate ProducerAlyssa St. Vincent
• Associate ProducerInnbo Shim
• Associate ProducerElizabeth Hayes
• Co-ProducerH.H. Cooper

Themes & keywords

What it's about, really

• sibling relationship
• drug addiction
• sister
• connecticut
• interracial marriage
• drug rehabilitation
• wedding
• maid of honor
• sister sister relationship
• rehearsal dinner

Release history · US

When it landed

• Theatrical (limited)2008-10-03R

Also known as

International titles

• Rachel Getting MarriedUS
• Rachel sta per sposarsiIT
• O casamento de RachelBR
• Rachel se marieFR
• Rachel esküvőjeHU
• 레이첼, 결혼하다KR
• La Boda de RachelMX
• Rachel EvlənirAZ