Writer/director Noah Baumbach (The Squid and the Whale)
goes Woody Allen one better with this dysfunctional-family dramedy that manages
to be psychologically astute as well as wickedly funny. Margot (Nicole Kidman)
and Pauline (Jennifer Jason Leigh) are estranged sisters reunited on the
occasion of Pauline’s marriage at their childhood home somewhere in
little ball of insecurity.) The needy, scattered Pauline doesn’t have her life
together, but Margot is a real piece of work, lashing out at her sister, her
brother-in-law-to-be, and even Pauline’s redneck neighbors. The story
occasionally embraces cliché and stretches credulity, but Baumbach’s incisive writing
and direction tease out the character notes that underlie Margot’s cruelty,
adding depth to a woman who becomes less and less sympathetic, spinning her
wheels desperately in an effort to find traction in the failings of those
around her. You feel for the gawky but sweet son she keeps in tow (even as she
cuckolds his father), but not for Margot herself — it’s a rare American film
that revolves around such an unlikable character. Evocative cinematography — no
shadows, only shades of gray — by Harris Savides rounds out a unique and unsettling
package. B+
This review originally appeared in the White Plains Times.