MARGOT AT THE WEDDING (2007) (***)

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Noah Baumbach continues his examination of the neurotic, intellectual and familial in his second film. This time he uses the often-used conceit of a big event to bring together characters that have not seen each other in ages and we watch as the fireworks explode. But with a person like Margot around throwing fire the explosions can be huge.

Margot (Nicole Kidman, THE HOURS) is a writer who never sees her husband Jim (John Turturro, DO THE RIGHT THING). She's having an affair with fellow writer Dick (Ciaran Hinds, MUNICH), who is married. She treats her young son Claude (Zane Pais) like a confidant instead of her child. Her and Claude have been invited to the wedding of her sister Pauline (Jennifer Jason Lee, THE HUDSUCKER PROXY), who lives a modest life in the old family home.

Margot sees herself as smarter than everyone around her. More refined. Pretentious is more like it. Having not seen her sister in years they fall into comfortable old patterns where Margot criticizes Pauline for not living up to her standards. Of course Pauline's fiancé Malcolm (Jack Black, HIGH FIDELITY) is not to her standards. He's a funny loaf; a wannabe writer/ musician / artist. He has a knack for over-reacting in anger. He's jealous of Bono because he believes there are only a few slots for stardom and some people don't deserve them and their taking his slot.

Baumbach observes these characters so precisely. Margot is infuriating and captivating at the same time. She is completely self-consumed. With how messed up her own life is, she has no right to judge others. Kidman is natural at making her a real person and not a walking parody. Pauline isn't an egotist like her sister, but she has the family love of ridicule. It's easy to see why they haven't spoken in so long. Lee gives her a droll approach. Pauline knows her sister and knows how she's going to react and she knows how to slyly bring out her hypocrisy to watch her get stuck in it. Black rounds out the lead characters with his best performance since HIGH FIDELITY. He makes us understand why Pauline loves him and why Margot would so quickly hate him without totally losing our sympathy.

Because none of the adult leads are likable, we watch these characters from the outside in the position to judge. Claude and Pauline's witty daughter Ingrid (Flora Cross, BEE SEASON) watch their parents with disbelief and survive them. But unlike Baumbach's THE SQUID AND THE WHALE these children are not the main characters. Likewise they aren't involved enough in the mounting dramatic turns towards the end to serve as the suitable conduit for the audience to see the main characters through. Thus we're left with a film with no one to like. In many ways it reminded me of John Curran's WE DON'T LIVE HERE ANYMORE. A cast of greatly observed jerks.

The film does work as an astute character study, but as drama or even comedy the film lags. Events transpire but has anybody even moved in a new direction? Is that Baumbach's point? When egos get so large, the possessor can never see past them.

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Rick DeMott
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