Noah Baumbach has perfected the dysfunctional family film. Squid and the Whale is one of my favorite movies, and he wrote and directed that film brilliantly. What I love about Baumbach is that his films are a plausible kind of dysfunctional–real people with real quirks in really fucked up situations. I think what sets him apart from other dysfunctionalites [writer-directors who tend to churn out un-family friendly films–the likes of Sofia Coppola, Alexander Payne and Wes Anderson] is that his characters are not larger than life. They’re real people with real problems–most of which don’t ever get resolved. His scripts are sharp, funny and succinct–nothing too over the top and pretentious. He and Dan Harris [Imaginary Heroes] kind of have the same style of storytelling, which I really like.
So when I decided to rent Margot at the Wedding, I thought, “Hey, it’s a Baumbach film. Should be good.” I knew going into it that Jack Black was in the movie; and Jack Black is not my cup of tea. Surprisingly, Black was tame and toned down in this film. His character, Malcolm, still provided comic relief for the film, but the power plays were commanded by Jennifer Jason Leigh and Nicole Kidman, both award-nominated and award-winning heavyweights. Kidman was surprisingly good in this film. Her performance was like the one she gave in The Hours, except Sybil-fied. Basically, the premise of Margot at the Wedding, is Nicole Kidman’s character Margot attending her estranged sister’s wedding invitation, and ending up completely mucking up the situation. What’s interesting isn’t the premise of a wedding crasher type thing, but rather, the brazenly self-aware and truthful repartee between type A, perfectionist Margot and her free-spirited sister Pauline [Jennifer Jason Leigh], whose relationship is so strange and skewed that one can only imagine what it would be like to be in that family.
Laughing it up: Nicole Kidman and Jennifer Jason Leigh play two sisters who have a love-hate relationship with each other.
I like the muted tones of the film, how it’s simple and restrained. It can be compared to the Augusten Burroughs memoir-based movie Running with Scissors, except less indulgent. I feel like Noah Baumbach is like a Wes Anderson, only less indulgent and more tell-it-like-it-is. I also like the soundtrack for the movie. Overall, I enjoyed the film. It was purposefully fragmented, which I thought was an interesting aesthetic choice. Good, strong performances, even from Jack Black (who attempted to cry, but failed, in my eyes). If you’re a fan of the dysfunctional movies like Winter Passing and Imaginary Heroes, you will like this movie.
A Movie Script Ending 
