New Moon is nothing if not an international advertisement for the hungry virtues of virginity and young people can’t get enough of it
The Twilight Saga: New Moon
Theatre
A smart, prickly and rewarding view of sexual and emotional confusion
Cock
Restaurants
Kitchen W8 is a bargain for this area, if such sophistication is what you crave
Kitchen W8
Too long and drawn out but very entertaining with excellent special effects
This is a peculiar play and does not work for me. Some of it is very funny but there are real flaws
Alex has a strong powerful voice and was faultless, she is far better now than she was on the X-Factor
London,
Charlotte O'Sullivan's rating
Reader rating
Dir: Jonathan Demme.
Cast: Anne Hathaway, Rosemarie DeWitt, Bill Irwin, Anna Deavere Smith, Mather Zickel
Description: Rachel and her fiance Sidney are preparing to tie the knot at her father's Connecticut country home. While Rachel's old man Paul and stepmother Carol proudly welcome guests to the house, the happy couple ensures every detail is perfect for the big day, from the floral arrangements to the musicians who will play the blushing bride down the aisle. Storm clouds rumble with the arrival of younger sister, Kym, a recovering drug addict who is cursed with an insatiable need to be the centre of attention. Without a care for anyone, least of all her sister on the most important day of her life, Kym wreaks havoc behind the scenes by flirting with best man Kieran and dredging up painful memories of the past.
Country: US. 2008. 112mins
Sisterly strife: Kym (Anne Hathaway) and Rachel (Rosemarie DeWitt)
At the rehearsal dinner for her sister’s wedding, Kym (Anne Hathaway), a havoc-wreaking
ex-junkie fresh out of rehab, proposes a toast to the bride. She starts off by talking about herself. And keeps on talking about herself, causing the guests to shift uneasily in their seats. Wedding speeches are self-scripted performances — and Kym is not giving the audience what they want. Hathaway’s loose-limbed turn, by contrast, leaves us crying out for more.
You may have seen Hathaway in The Devil Wears Prada as a beaming beauty with Gollum eyes, whose body shrinks as her star rises. In this Connecticut-set family drama, she is just as spookily skinny, but this time eating disorders are played for more than just laughs. Kym is capable of being funny, but her self-loathing is real.
Rachel Getting Married was written by first-time writer Jenny Lumet (Sidney’s daughter), yet much of the dialogue was improvised. Director Jonathan Demme, who says he wanted to make “the most beautiful home movie ever made”, didn’t rehearse scenes before filming. He and Hathaway, as much as Lumet, deserve praise for creating a pariah at once close-to-home and unique.
The film tracks Kym’s progress over the three-day event. Lies are uncovered, truths revealed, dishwashers stacked. Debra Winger is bewitching as the sisters’ mother, a woman who looks warm but gives out very little heat. Bill Irwin is even better as their dad, a man whose warmth is stifling. In perhaps the most difficult part, Rosemarie DeWitt — as the apparently smug Rachel — is also superb. Whether intentionally or not, Kym is always stealing the limelight from Rachel. DeWitt ensures Rachel is able to steal it back.
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The music deserves mention, too. A real-life team of musicians, headed by New Orleans saxophonist Donald Harrison Jr and Palestinian violinist Zafer Tawil, star as musicians hired by Rachel and her fiancé Sidney (Tunde Adebimpe) to create music throughout the weekend. The Dogme 95 crowd — who famously banned the use of “incidental music” in their films — would be proud.
The music continually, sometimes imperceptibly, shifts the mood. Kym steps into a child’s bedroom and soft music from below creates a momentary, heart-squeezing spell; after the ceremony, the music invites couples in the room to bump and grind. There’s no full stop to this music. In the same way, Rachel Getting Married, a film that could easily be viewed as a testament to the healing power of love, leaves the door ajar.
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About as uplifting as a film about a dysfunctional family can be. Any idea that takes the most cliched setting of them all (a wedding) as its whole basis AND finds new, funny and moving things to say deserves praise, but RGM makes you feel like you've spent the weekend with the family. Demme's 'hand-held' style masterfully creates this sense of conviction and truth. Everything is haunting - the back story, the music and the performances, (give the Oscar to Anne Hathaway, please), and the ensemble cast of family and friends is a real joy, particularly the George Clooney-alike playing the best man, Kieron. I loved it.
- Roger Gascoigne, Twickenham UK
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