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The Review - AT THE MOVIES with WILLIAM HALL
Published: 28 February 2008

Margot’s frosty reception

MARGOT AT THE WEDDING
Directed by NOAH BAUMBACH
Certificate 15

BE glad, be very glad, that you aren’t lumbered with a family like this lot.
Nicole Kidman (pictured) stars as Margot, a flaky writer we first meet on the train on her way to the wedding of her sister Pauline (Jennifer Jason Leigh) in the peaceful countryside of upstate New York.
The pair have been estranged for years, and it’s never quite clear why Margot has decided to attend the wedding, particularly as they spend so much time throwing acid one-liners at each other. The groom (Jack Black) doesn’t help – he’s a penniless artist with attention deficit problems who’s totally out of place among these sophisticated relatives.
Margot has her stroppy teenage son (Zane Pais) in tow, and is on the threshold of leaving her husband (John Torturro) who is not invited to the gathering but turns up anyway.
Things don’t look good for the nuptials.
The bitter-sweet drama veers alarmingly between back-stabbing and tearful reconciliations that give some kind of hope for the future.
I have to say that I did not really care.
The characters are too full of angst and guilt to win us over, and I felt I was watching a load of actors – well, just acting. Worse, I can’t remember spending a more depressing 90 minutes in a cinema in ages.

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