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As the holidays approach and we all prepare to gather with our families to celebrate, I can’t think of a more appropriate time to release Margot at the Wedding, a film about a family at the peak of dysfunction.
Nicole Kidman stars as the title character, a short story writer from Manhattan who returns to her childhood home for her sister’s wedding. Everyone’s pretty surprised to see Margot—who arrives with her teenage son, Claude (Zane Pais), in tow—not only because she didn’t tell anyone she was coming, but also because she and her sister, Pauline (Jennifer Jason Leigh), haven’t spoken in years.
Stunned but pleasantly surprised, Pauline welcomes her sister with open arms. She introduces Margot to her fiancé, Malcolm (Jack Black), a moody, unemployed artist—and then the fun begins.
As the two sisters slip back into their old sisterly ways—one minute fighting, the next minute laughing over some old inside joke—Margot slowly starts to get under everyone’s skin. She criticizes and condemns. She disapproves and disparages (all with the best of intentions, of course). And the longer she stays, the more chaos she brings. Suddenly, Pauline and Malcolm start bending under the pressure—and even the neighbors (who were already less than friendly) declare war, thanks to Margot’s meddling.
Margot at the Wedding is a painfully funny film about family. It’s sometimes maddening, sometimes delightful, and sometimes disturbing—and it often shares a little too much information (like that shot of Jack Black’s butt). While the story is carefully crafted, told in snippets throughout an agonizing weekend, the performances make it stand out. Leigh is wonderful as the timid and conflicted Pauline. She’s so angry with her sister—yet she’s so dependent on Margot for approval. She hates the way Margot treats her—but she always stands up for her anyway. And you can’t help but feel sorry for her—no matter how exasperating her devotion may be. Even Jack Black holds his own as the grim yet goofy artist. But Kidman is absolutely brilliant as the critical, meddling, crazy-making sister. She’s unhappy and indecisive and unstable—but she seems so sweet and innocent. She can’t be alone—but she makes everyone around her crazy.
As I watched Kidman, I couldn’t help but think back to Into the Wild—another movie with a completely unlikable main character. How, I kept wondering, could I hate Margot so very much but still enjoy the movie—after Emile Hirsch’s Christopher McCandless almost made me stop watching Into the Wild? Perhaps it’s because her character is just so smart and so charming. Or maybe it’s because Nicole Kidman is so good at being so evil that it’s fun to watch.
Of course, that’s not to say that Margot at the Wedding is a laugh-out-loud, outrageous comedy. It has its oddly funny moments, but it’s also emotionally exhausting. Most of all, though, it’s observant and real. Watch it before you visit the family for the holidays, and it may actually make your own family’s foibles seem almost insignificant.
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