Much of “Margot at the Wedding” is hard to watch ““ and that’s probably one of the best things about it.
What is it about something so painful, so awkward, and so emotionally torturous that feels so good? Whatever it is, writer-director Noah Baumbach (“The Squid and the Whale”) has nailed it down into something that will resonate with those who have felt the crushing pain that comes with imploding family relationships.
Academy Award winner Nicole Kidman plays Margot, a pill-popping, chardonnay-swigging author with a mean streak triggered by inadequacy and daddy issues and, most likely, some sort of personality disorder.
Estranged from her sister Pauline (Jennifer Jason Leigh), Margot travels back to their childhood home for Pauline’s wedding to Malcolm (Jack Black) with her tween son Claude (Zane Pais).
Almost immediately upon Margot’s arrival, the audience can predict the heavy contribution she’ll make to the family’s imminent destruction.
Kidman’s portrayal of Margot is perfectly neurotic and self-absorbed, and while we certainly hate her at times for her cruel comments, passive-aggressive insults masked as suggestions, and impulsive temper, we are also able to feel compassion for her obvious fragility.
Jennifer Jason Leigh, who audiences were introduced to as Stacy in “Fast Times at Ridgemont High,” gives a fantastic performance as a kind, easygoing opposite to Margot ““ eager to make amends and rejuvenate the bond of sisterhood. But she’s also emotional and real.
While it would make sense for her character to utterly loathe her mean sister, her humanity is made apparent when she recognizes her sisterly love for her, despite the mean things she’s said and the destruction she’s trying to cause.
The dynamic between Claude and Pauline’s daughter, Ingrid, is an interesting one that starkly contrasts the relationship between their mothers. Unlike his mother Margot, Claude ““ adorably, awkwardly and earnestly played by 12-year-old newcomer Pais ““ honestly and sweetly interacts with Ingrid, making the animosity between Margot and Pauline that much more pronounced.
Like in Baumbach’s last film, “The Squid and the Whale,” which chronicled the effects of a messy divorce, the dialogue is excruciatingly awkward, uncomfortable and so very real. Every scene is packed with tense drama ““ delayed reactions, violent reactions and painfully conciliatory reactions when a violent reaction would have been more reasonable. The bluntness is difficult to handle, but it is so understandable for the audience.
Also characteristic of Baumbach’s style was the wry humor injected into mundane, yet symbolic situations. Black is hilarious as Malcolm, but not in a boys-night-gross-out kind of way. Malcolm sports a 1970s porn-style mustache for part of the film, which was, as he said, “meant to be funny.” And it is. While Black gets all the good sex jokes to himself, he keeps his character coolly subdued and, for the most part, likable as a hapless, jobless funny guy.
Family as a whole can be likened to one of the many sweaters worn in the film: It may be itchy and smothering, and easy to hate at times, but when it’s cold and it’s all you’ve got, nothing could be more comforting than that smothering itch.
““ Devon McReynolds
E-mail McReynolds at dmcreynolds@media.ucla.edu.