Margot at the Wedding
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Jack Black, Nicole KidmanBrand: PARAMOUNT HOME VIDEO
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 5.1; English (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 5.1; Spanish (Dubbed), Dolby Digital 5.1
Format: AC-3, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 2.35:1
Running Time: 91 minutes
Published: 2008-02-01
DVD Release Date: 2008-02-19
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Studio: Paramount
Movie Reviews of Margot at the Wedding
Movie Review: The Comedy Of Malice
Summary: 5 Stars
There's probably not been so dark a movie comedy as "Margot At The Wedding" in a long, long time, and this could be why it flopped at the box office. It appears to be asking a lot to expect an audience to show up for a film with a lead character this narcissistic and destructive (and played by a star as big as Nicole Kidman, no less.) But you need to go into this with the proper expectations. No one is going to change or grow, at least during the running time of the movie. Remember the old Seinfeld - The Complete Series rule; no hugging, and no learning anything? Ditto in spades for "Margot." Indeed, this movie is a lot like a 90 minute episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm - The Complete Sixth Season with all visible remaining sentiment altogether drained. I loved it, but Dr. Strangelove or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (Two-Disc Special Edition) is my idea of a classic comedy. I think there are powerful emotions of love at work in "Margot" but they jostle for position with selfishness, envy, and hostility. Kind of like a real family.
This movie also wears its influences on its sleeve. Margot is supposed to be an acclaimed fiction writer of the The New Yorker [1-year subscription]-magazine variety, and you need to approach this movie as a literary artifact. If you hated reading and explicating short stories in school, you probably won't like this movie. But if you get a thrill from figuring out complicated characters; or connecting the dots between subtle plot twists and developments, then this is the movie for you. Notice the opening and closing scenes of the movie, and what Margot says about her son's sunglasses. If you like to notice details like these and pick up on a film maker's hints, you will have a good time here. I have never been that big a fan of Kidman, (except to marvel at her beauty) but she is really, really good as the awful Margot. As somebody else wrote about her character, Margot is like an emotional terrorist who tosses bombs at any available target. But you get some hints about why she is like she is from the contradictory things she says about her dead father. (Notice how she and Jennifer Jason Leigh talk about him between themselves, and what she says about him in public at a book reading.) And she is a tortured soul, as you can see from her relationship with her kindly husband (John Turturro, in what amounts to a cameo.) She may be the smartest person in the room, but she is also the unhappiest. It's nice to see Jennifer Jason Leigh again as the (relatively) sane sister. Jack Black as Malcolm does a more subdued variation of his usual character. At first you think this goofy failed musician is going to be the beacon of normality for us through these hilariously wounded people. But, without giving too much away, Malcolm has his own issues and it's interesting how Black blends his own patented zaniness with the demands of this plot (particularly in his last scene.)
I think that a lot of the people who liked The Squid and the Whale (Special Edition) (Baumbach highly-praised previous movie) were disappointed by "Margot" because it lacked the nostalgia and coming-of-age elements that were kind of like the sugar coating over the bitter taste of the earlier film. I suppose an angry, successful, gorgeous Nicole Kidman is harder to take than the defeated, schlumpy (but just as angry) Jeff Daniels in "Squid" (even though they are playing very similar characters.) I think this is one of those movies that gets overlooked when first released but will grow in reputation as time passes. It's just really, really funny and truthful in ways we don't like to think about. And if nothing else, you will count your blessings about your own family.
Summary of Margot at the Wedding
Margot Zeller (Nicole Kidman) is a short story writer with a sharp wit and an even sharper tongue. On the eve of her estranged sister Pauline?s (Jennifer Jason Leigh) wedding to unemployed musician/artist/depressive Malcolm (Jack Black) at the family seaside home, Margot shows up unexpectedly to rekindle the sisterly bond and offer her own brand of "support." What ensues is a nakedly honest and subversively funny look at family dynamics.Similar DVD Movies
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