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List Price: $29.99 | | Label: Paramount
Salesrank: 30853
Released: February 19, 2008 |
| Our Price: $3.29 |
| Used Price: $1.44 |
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MPAA Rating: R (Restricted)
Media: DVD |
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Editorial Review:
Margot Zeller (Nicole Kidman) is a short story writer with a sharp wit and an even sharper tongue. On the eve of her estranged sister Pauline’s (Jennifer Jason Leigh) wedding to unemployed musician/artist/depressive Malcolm (Jack Black) at the family seaside home, Margot shows up unexpectedly to rekindle the sisterly bond and offer her own brand of "support." What ensues is a nakedly honest and subversively funny look at family dynamics.
Description of Margot at the Wedding:
The porcelain beauty of Nicole Kidman provides the perfect face for narcissism in Margot at the Wedding, writer/director Noah Baumbach's follow-up to his justly praised The Squid and the Whale. When Margot (Kidman) comes to attend the wedding of her sister Pauline (Jennifer Jason Leigh) with her son Claude (Zane Pais, making his film debut), it seems as if a family rift is being mended--but soon Margot and Pauline, despite their best efforts, revert to their most dysfunctional selves. It doesn't help that Pauline's fiance (Jack Black) is woefully depressed, Margot's lover (Ciaran Hinds, Rome) is as narcissistic as she is, and Margot's estranged husband (John Turturro) can't recognize how Margot cringes at his every effort at reconciliation. Margot at the Wedding may sound like a festival of neurosis, and it is--but the deft and subtle script, fully-lived-in performances, and empathic direction create moments so vivid you can't help but be drawn into the characters' ragged lives. At the movie's center is a mother-son relationship both loving and poisonous, portrayed with stark clarity. Kidman is the mirror image of Jeff Daniels as the arrogant father in The Squid and the Whale; she pulls her child down with her as she sinks in self-absorption. Pais, with a simple but heartbreaking performance, gives the brittle movie a sympathetic core. --Bret Fetzer
Margot at the Wedding Reviews:
Watchable but not terribly good 
2009-08-11 - The Bottom Line:
Nicole Kidman is quite good in the lead and the movie never bores, but it wanders a lot without ever reaching a real conclusion and doesn't really seem to be about anything aside from quirky characters going through the motions; I doubt Margot at the Wedding will bore you but I doubt just as much that it will wow you.
2.5/4
hmmm, I like it 
2009-07-26 - I didn't think there was any major problems with Margot at the Wedding to be totally honest. The storyline was decent enough to keep you interested, the characters were all in VERY fine form, and heck, even the presence of Jack Black couldn't ruin this one, haha (he played a crybaby that had emotional problems as his character, which was somewhat funny).
The two female leading characters would constantly argue back and forth over whether the one woman should get married or not.
I guess the focus of the storyline was how fairly normal people get ready for a marriage, and whether the marriage should actually take place or not. I did think the story missed the boat a little bit in a few areas- I wanted to know more about the neighbors that were always angry and not friendly in any way, but they were hardly touched upon.
The 11 year old boy that plays the son is another mystery to me- the relationship with him and his cousin actually came across like it was going to be more than just a friendship, but nothing really came from it (not that I was expecting two cousins to hit off a boyfriend/girlfriend relationship, but the story appeared to be going in that direction and I wanted to see more).
The parts where the one woman was stuck way up high in a tree so the fire company had to come out and take her down was good writing, and the ending was really good too because I didn't see it coming. Not that it was a major plot twist or anything- it was just a nice way to wrap things up.
I just don't see the hate for this movie. It was good enough to keep me guessing, and the story was pretty interesting.
Pathetic film about pathetic people 
2009-07-19 - Painfully accurate portrayal of family life? Well, painful, in any case. This is typical of a new "genre" of film, a systematic attempt to portray a segment of society as an unbelievably crippled generation. If these people exist somewhere, god help us; I don't think even the most pathetic, disturbed creatures among us sink to these puerile lows. I feel as if these movies are written in some sort of code: nonsensical, adolescent, perpetually disturbed, put-upon and put out. Truly a case in which, even though I watched this at no cost, I still feel robbed of my time and good faith in the "creative class" to attempt to tell relevant stories. That Kidman and Turturro decided to partake in this drivel seriously undercuts their professional credibility. The characters are helpless dolts; perhaps the director and the entire crew are, as well. Sadly, I believe this "creative" team and the characters portrayed are exactly the type who voted in the current administration and subscribe to the current ethos of self-loathing, inertia and lack of pride. A stretch, perhaps, but the characters depicted here are far beyond inept, so lacking in common sense and inner strength, as to be physically painful to watch.
INTERESTING, BUT FLAWED!
2009-06-23 - The first half of 'Margot At The Wedding is very promising, but it's one of the longest 90 minutes I have spent watching a film. Even though the actors do a fine job, the characters never evolve. We get to know who we're dealing with right away and that is it! I grew to care less about the characters as the film progressed. This is never a good thing and it really hurts this film. It's OK, but it loses steam half way through. Watch it on cable.
SAVE YOUR MONEY!
2009-04-01 - Do not spend your money on this trash. You find yourself watching just because you cannot believe that it's not really going ANYWHERE. You also tend to want it to be good because the cast has such promise. With names like Nicole Kidman and Jennifer Jason Leigh you are expecting a good movie. It seems to me that they both just needed the work. I'm sorry that it just doesn't work. Rent it on NetFlix or Blockbuster but please don't buy it.
