Rachel Getting Married

Aroview: As a recovering addict sister of a bride-to-be, Anne Hathaway convincingly detours from her vocation as resident Hollywood princess for this un-glossy "indie" drama, directed by Jonathan Demme and scripted by Jenny Lumet (daughter of the legendary director, Sidney).

In these capable hands, its better executed than most dramas exploring family dynamics and fraternal rivalry, though it wears its upper-middle class liberalism on its sleeve - its depiction of mixed-race marriage perhaps making it a defining product of the Obama era. It's also a mixed marriage of two well-worn genres; the recovering junkie movie and the wedding drama, and the two don't always seem compatible, especially when the director gets distracted by all the musical friends he's invited to the party. So the cine-literate will have quibbles, but others will appreciate it as courageous drama that confronts open family wounds with a spirit of optimism.

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