When Margot (Nicole Kidman) decides to attend the wedding of her estranged sister Pauline (Jennifer Jason Leigh), they soon fall into their old bickering, manipulative patterns.

CRITIQUE

Writer-director Noah Baumbach broke onto the movie scene with the funny, knowing Kicking and Screaming (not the Will Ferrell soccer movie), but when a few subsequent comedies didn’t do as well, he has now moved into the realm of fairly serious character pieces, first The Squid and the Whale and now Margot At The Wedding.  The Squid and the Whale is the solider of the two, but fans of that film might find things to like here, though moviegoers not in the mood for this sort of angst-ridden family drama may want to steer clear.

The main character here is Margot, who takes her young teenage son Claude with her to the small seaside wedding of her sister Pauline, who is marrying unemployed Malcolm (Jack Black).  Margot and Pauline have been estranged for a while, and though on a certain level the sisters do want to reconnect, they easily fall into old patterns in which they snipe at each other or slide snide criticisms in the other’s direction.

One’s tolerance for this movie will depend a lot on if you mind spending 90 minutes with these often-frustrating people.  There isn’t a whole lot of real plot here, just these characters snapping at each other and trying to subtly manipulate each other, in a battle for control that has no real solutions, and there are times when this is just hard to sit through; it this was a real gathering, one would be tempted to leave before the end.

Still, the actors do a great job inhabiting the characters, particularly Kidman, Leigh and Black, and it’s worth watching just to see the job they do making scenes play on various levels.  The result is good enough to make one wish it were a lot better, since the ending isn’t quite solid enough to really redeem it, but if you a fan of this kind of thing, or of any of the talents involved, it’s worth checking out.

THE VIDEO

Margot At The Wedding is presented in widescreen, enhanced for 16:9 TVs.  The picture quality is murky in spots, but generally okay.

THE AUDIO

Margot At The Wedding is presented in English 5.1 Dolby Digital Surround, as well as Spanish 5.1.  Dialogue, music and sound effects come through clear.  There are English, French and Spanish subtitles.

THE EXTRAS

A 13-minute Conversation with Noah Baumbach and Jennifer Jason Leigh features the husband and wife talking about the movie and the filmmaking process.  It’s interesting enough to make one wish they’d done a full commentary.

There are two Trailers for this film, and a handful of Previews for other releases.

FINAL THOUGHT

Not for all tastes, but for those who like this kind of thing, there’s some good work here.