The Squid and the Whale focused on a family of four: a husband, wife and their two young sons. With sharp dialogue and stellar acting, the film explored how the end of a marriage affected the children. Margot at the Wedding uses the formation of a marriage as its starting point, and then checks out the emotional ripples that emanate from that. The wedding that sets the plot in motion is that of Pauline (Jennifer Jason Leigh) and Malcolm (Jack Black). Margot (Nicole Kidman) is Pauline's estranged sister who unexpectedly agrees to come to the wedding with her son Claude (Zane Pais). But Pauline suspects that sis has come because she was invited to speak at a local bookstore and because she's having an affair with a man who lives near Pauline. Margot, an author, is high strung, self-centered, judgmental, and often casually cruel. She arrives at the wedding mainly to scold her sister for her bad choice in husbands. Old emotional wounds are opened, a few skeletons come out of the closet, and yet in the end very little changes. In fact very little really happens.
Nicole Kidman and Jennifer Jason Leigh (Paramount Classics)
But then Baumbach is really an observer of social behavior. He's not (at least not as of yet) interested in big dramas but rather intimate ones that carefully observe small circles of people interacting. Baumbach originally wanted to call this Nicole at the Beach , in reference to French New Wave director Eric Rohmer's Pauline at the Beach . But Baumbach changed the title when Kidman was cast. The reference to Rohmer still remains as Baumbach does his take on the French New Waver's relationship tales. But unlike Rohmer's characters who ultimately charm us with their foibles and self-absorption, Baumbach's characters remain aloof and unpleasant. I don't need to like characters in order to like a film but I need to be engaged by their story and Baumbach doesn't quite pull that off. Too much detail is left out what of the other sister? She's referred to as "poor Becky" who got the worst of it. But we never get to meet her or understand how she fits into the twisted dynamics of these siblings. And what of the allusion to the abusive father? The other sister and mother arrive at the very end but are not allowed to speak yet they hold a piece to this emotional puzzle that we need.
Visually, the film has an ominous gloom hanging over it. It is visually dark and muddy looking images as if this were some kind of bleak horror film set on the gloomy moors. Cinematographer Harris Savides supposedly used old lenses and shot mostly in natural light to get the dim look of the film. I kept thinking the projector bulb was going out. And while the grim ominous quality is fitting for this bleak emotional drama, the film grows visually wearisome to watch.
Jennifer Jason Leigh (Paramount Classics)
This is a film where the parts are better than the whole. Individual scenes work brilliantly and Baumbach nails the dialogue of these characters. He reveals how the slightest turn of phrase with just the right emphasis can be as brutal as physical abuse. He may not be as cruel as Neil LaBute ( In the Company of Men, Your Friends and Neighbors ) but there are scenes that make you wince. He's also particularly good at relationships between parents and children. In this case Margot and her son. The scenes between the two of them are stunning.
There's only one sour note in this fine acting ensemble and that's Jack Black. He's fine when he's the butt of the jokes but when he breaks down and tries for a big emotional moment, it plays false as if he's pulling our leg instead of tugging at our emotions. Jennifer Jason Leigh, as always, is sublime. She's a fabulous but underused actress who always hits the right emotional notes. Kidman gives one of her best performance as the family celebrity who's chilly, brittle, neurotic and downright mean. Yet she uses her soft vocal tones as a means of pretending like what she's saying isn't as harsh as it is. Baumbach uses Kidman's offscreen celebrity well, casting her among more indie style stars to make the character of Margot function as both the center of attention and something of an outsider.
Margot at the Wedding (rated R for sexual content and language) is disappointing because we have seen what exquisite work Baumbach is capable of. But his Margot at the Wedding still outshines most other films in terms of dialogue writing and actors' performances. With the exception of Jack Black's Malcolm, there's never a false moment with these characters. The question is, will you be engaged or compelled by their story.
Companion viewing: The Squid and the Whale , Pauline at the Beach, Your Friends and Neighbors
