Rachel Getting Married is not a comedy.

Perhaps that’s a funny way to start a review, but I understand there has been some representation of it as such in the media. At the screening I attended there was an overhead conversation where somebody said, “I thought this was a comedy.” Well, no, it isn’t.

Rachel Getting Married is the story of a family in the days leading up to the marriage of one of their daughters. Rachel, the bride, is played by Rosemarie DeWitt. The other sister, Kym, is played by Anne Hathaway, and she is being let out of rehab just prior to rehearsal for the wedding.

As soon as Kym arrives home it becomes instantly clear that there are longstanding issues, and battles between the sisters and the rest of their friends and families. This is really the story of the whole family although the central figure is Kym as she moves from room to room and family member to family member trying to re-integrate herself into the thick of things, and simultaneously resenting the need to re-integrate. And at the same time the rest of the family tries to cope with the disruption that Kym represents to their lives.

There are arguments, hugs and kisses, and awkward moments aplenty to follow, but it soon becomes clear that there is one particular tragedy that everyone is dancing around and avoiding that eventually reveals itself. This tragedy is one of the central events in the lives of the characters we are now watching and their relationships with each other gravitate around this event.

Despite this tragedy, however, there is much love. I really cared for this family. They are a unique film family and yet completely recognizable. There is music constantly echoing down the hallways of their home, and even in the midst of the worst fights and arguments there is a feeling of love that permeates the home. This isn’t your typical hollywood film family and the movie was that much more touching because of it.

If I have one complaint about the movie it is a technical one. There are occasional scenes in the movie where a handheld camera is used and in a few instances I felt that the shaky, jerky camera work became distracting and pulled me out of the scene. Note that this wasn’t the overall effect of the movie, it was only in a couple scenes.

At the end of the film I was surprised to note that the director was Jonathan Demme. I hadn’t been aware of that going into the film. He is probably most recognized for directing Philadelphia and Silence of the Lambs, but I honestly couldn’t think of anything he had done recently. I was pleased to see that he was out there with this film that I felt to be more intimate than some of his previous work. It’s always nice to see a good director doing something a little different, and still growing and stretching.

The performances throughout the film are uniformly excellent. Anne Hathaway is getting the most attention, but there is certainly no need to stop at just her when looking for outstanding performances.

This is a terrific, small, intimate movie about people and a place that feels very real, and relationships that are genuinely touching. Highly recommended if you are looking for something different from typical overblown Hollywood fodder.