‘Rachel Getting Married’

At most weddings, the bride is the undisputed star, with the groom in the best-supporting-actor role.

But in "Rachel Getting Married," Rachel's not the one who claims the spotlight. Rachel never gets the spotlight, not even on her own wedding day.

Why should she? After all, she's the one who has her life together.

As usual, it's her screwed-up sister Kym who grabs all the attention. Sure, it's negative attention -- but it's attention nonetheless.

Yes, "Rachel Getting Married" qualifies as yet another portrait of yet another dysfunctional family. As Leo Tolstoy once famously observed, however, every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way. And the family in "Rachel Getting Married" boasts enough intriguingly idiosyncratic qualities for multiple movies.

In the case of this one, however, it helps to have an experienced hand calling the shots: Oscar-winning director Jonathan Demme, whose credits range from mainstream thrillers ("Silence of the Lambs" to seriously off-kilter comedies ("Something Wild").

And while "Rachel Getting Married" definitely veers toward the off-kilter, its acutely observed family dynamics generate genuine tension.

That's due, in part, to the movie's distinctive hand-held camerawork, courtesy of busy cinematographer Declan Quinn (who already has "The Lucky Ones" and "Pride and Glory" on his 2008 resume). It reflects the jittery, tense atmosphere -- and the jittery, tense people trying desperately to ignore it.

Good luck with that.

"Rachel Getting Married" first introduces us not to Rachel but to Kym (Anne Hathaway), who's being sprung from her latest stint in drug rehab to spend the weekend at her family's Connecticut home so she can attend her sister's wedding.

Her overly solicitous dad (Bill Irwin) and supportive stepmother (Anna Deavere Smith) seem fine with it. So, in her way, does sister Rachel (Rosemarie DeWitt), who's long since become resigned to being the mature, reasonable, responsible sibling. Not that she doesn't wish, just this once, that Rachel wasn't so good at sucking all the oxygen out of every room she's in.

Then again, Kym's had lots of practice. And one of the questions that surrounds "Rachel Getting Married" is whether Rachel will indeed be able to get married, what with Kym's long-standing expertise in ruining occasions and ruining lives -- and not just her own.

The raw materials screenwriter Jenny Lumet (daughter of legendary director Sidney Lumet, granddaughter of even more legendary singer and actress Lena Horne) mines for "Rachel Getting Married" are the stuff of hand-wringing, soul-baring, made-for-TV melodramas.

That is, they might be -- if "Rachel Getting Married" had focused only on Kym and her disruptive, walking-disaster presence.

Fortunately, Lumet expands the movie's focus to take in the entire wedding party, from Rachel's beaming fiance Sidney (Tunde Adebimpe) and Sidney's extended family to Rachel's snippy best friend (Anisa George), who resents Kym even more than Rachel does. To say nothing of Rachel and Kym's elusive mother (welcome back, Debra Winger), reluctantly back in the family fold for her command mother-of-the-bride performance.

As you might expect, there are plenty of secrets and resentments creating emotional ripples that threaten to become tidal waves. (With Kym in the mix it could hardly be otherwise.)

Most of the time, we're in the thick of things, watching things that aren't always comfortable to watch -- in part because the people we're watching seem so painfully uncomfortable with each other. (And, more importantly, with themselves.)

Little wonder, then, that "Rachel Getting Married" relies on the strength of its persuasive performances to bring its telling observations to life.

Hathaway has, not surprisingly, been getting most of the attention for her decidedly anti-princessy portrayal of the maddening, mercurial Kym. She's like an accident victim who can't help tearing at her stitches -- because she can't face the prospect that, someday, she might heal.

But "Rachel Getting Married" boasts a host of equally memorable performances.

As the sometimes overlooked title character, DeWitt (whose TV credits include "Mad Men") blends resentment, resignation and loving warmth, while Winger's brief appearance reminds us how forcefully she can dominate the screen while revealing an aching vulnerability beneath that force.

My favorite performance, however, comes from the brilliant Bill Irwin. Tony-winning stage actor, winner of a MacArthur "genius grant," member of the International Clown Hall of Fame, Irwin doesn't do as many movies as he should. His "Rachel" performance shows us why, subtly yet piercingly capturing the fond, foolish indulgence of a father who keeps trying to make everything better -- even for a daughter who doesn't want everything better. Otherwise, how could she be the star of the show, even on her sister's wedding day?

Ah, family life can bet a convoluted, contrary, confounding thing. But, as "Rachel Getting Married" so deftly points out, we couldn't -- and wouldn't -- have it any other way.

Contact movie critic Carol Cling at ccling@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0272.