The results aren't bruising, just numbing
Margot at the Wedding (2007)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:161
Fresh:83
Rotten:78
Average Rating:5.6/10
Consensus: Despite a great cast, the characters in Margot at the Wedding are too unlikable to enthrall viewers.
Theatrical Release:2007-11
Box Office: $1,929,081
Synopsis: Writer-director Noah Baumbach follows up his Oscar-nominated THE SQUID AND THE WHALE with another bitingly funny and painfully honest dissection of family life. This time around, the topic is... Writer-director Noah Baumbach follows up his Oscar-nominated THE SQUID AND THE WHALE with another bitingly funny and painfully honest dissection of family life. This time around, the topic is sisterhood. Margot (Nicole Kidman) and her adolescent son Claude (Zane Pais) take a train from New York City to Long Island, where Margot's sister Pauline (Jennifer Jason Leigh) is about to get married to Malcolm (Jack Black). Even though Margot is a successful writer with a compassionate husband (John Turturro), she is repressed, bitter, insecure, and angry, and she takes out her frustrations on anyone and everyone around her. Pauline is initially happy that her sister has decided to come to the wedding, but she quickly realizes that Margot is still her terrible old self. Over the course of a few days, past conflicts erupt and present conflicts explode, threatening not only to put a damper on the wedding, but to ruin it completely. Baumbach's gift for dialogue is unmatched. His seemingly effortless ability to blend humor with seriousness makes it difficult to categorize MARGOT AT THE WEDDING as a drama or a comedy, for it is both. Kidman proves that her Academy Award wasn't a fluke, delivering a fearless performance that is at times difficult to watch in its virulence. Baumbach's wife, Leigh, is her typically exceptional self, but it's Black who is the film's true revelation, playing it straight like never before, to heartbreaking effect. Featuring stark naturalistic photography by the great Harris Savides (GERRY, ZODIAC), MARGOT AT THE WEDDING is another major accomplishment from Baumbach. [More]
Starring: Nicole Kidman, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Jack Black, Ciaran Hinds
Starring: Nicole Kidman, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Jack Black, Ciaran Hinds, John Turturro, Zane Pais
Director: Noah Baumbach
Director: Noah Baumbach
Screenwriter: Noah Baumbach
Producer: Scott Rudin
Studio: Paramount Vantage
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Reviews for Margot at the Wedding
Noah Baumbach’s entry into the dysfunctional-family sweepstakes is a successfully depressing affair that has some genuine laughs to maintain interest while the fake relationships that dominate every scene leave the viewer as estranged as the char
The raw, real centerpiece is the relationship between Kidman and Leigh, whose performances drive the film.
a dysfunctional family portrait that, at best, shows how far sisterly bonds can stretch without breaking. At worst, it demonstrates what happens when a writer with nothing to say continues to produce after his supply of bio fuel is exhausted
Noah Baumbach is the king of dysfunction. We constantly see films about war, love, aliens, so why no films about how insanely uncomfortable family can be with one another?
Enjoyably spiky family drama with a sharply written script and strong performances from its two leads.
Doesn't quite measure up to its predecessor but it is still an often painfully accurate study of fractured family relationships.
Of course, we get nothing so false as an “emotional journey” for anyone. But as the film abruptly ends, you can’t help feeling a little less ice would go a long way.
Dramatically and visually, there's no relief to be had in this self-indulgent downer.
There is such a thing as binge pessimism. It happens when one living disaster area, considered insufficient in a story, is served up with several others, causing audience braincells to swirl, stagger and collide against thalamic lampposts.
This largely po-faced comedy drama has an annoying, self-congratulatory tone.
Humourless (though supposedly a comedy) and pretentious, almost a parody of the self-indulgent Sundance festival film, right down to the washed-out colours, droning dialogue and the title in big sans-serif capitals.
Latest News for Margot at the Wedding
February 18, 2008:
RT on DVD: Cram For The Oscars With Michael Clayton, In The Valley of Elah, And More Out This Week
Ready those Oscar ballots! With the Academy Awards around the corner, it's time to start catching up on what you missed in theaters. Snap up this week's offerings for... More...
November 15, 2007:
Critical Consensus: Beowulf is Certified Fresh; Magorium Short on Magic; Cholera is Under the Weather
This week at the movies, we've got epic poems come to life (Beowulf, starring Ray Winstone and Angelina Jolie), a magical toy shop (Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium, starring... More...
October 25, 2007:
Scripts Online for Oscar Hopefuls Into the Wild, Kite Runner, and More!
The folks at Paramount Vantage are wearing their Oscar contender hopes on their sleeves, posting the scripts for four of their strongest 2007 films online for public consumption. More...
September 13, 2007:
Toronto Film Fest: Margot at the Wedding, Nothing is Private Reviews
Margot at the Wedding: "Brings out writer/director Noah Baumbach's misanthropy at its most unsalvageable." Nothing is Private: "[Its] reputation as Toronto's most subversive... More...
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