Nicole Kidman is no stranger to playing disturbed, conniving characters ("To Die For") and Noah Baumbach has a knack for writing/directing them ("The Squid and the Whale"). "Margot at the Wedding" brings these two talents together for this squirm-inducing yet pleasingly catty film, which is likely to entice viewers - almost in spite of itself.
"Margot at the Wedding" begins with the chugging of a train, the same imagery chosen by Baumbach's longtime pal/partner-in-crime Wes Anderson for 2007's equally offbeat "The Darjeeling Limited." Manhattanites Margot (Kidman) and her adolescent son Claude (affable newbie Zane Pais) are traveling to her childhood home for a wedding, that of her semi-estranged sister Pauline (Jennifer Jason Leigh) and hubby-to-be, Malcolm (Jack Black). The moment Claude leaves his mother's side in order to break the silence with an ear-piercing yowl, we're given an inkling as to just how pleasant it is to be around Margot.
In short - not very. She's an intimidating, uptight writer who is flattering one second and belittling the next; and never hesitates to share her opinion, the more unwanted the better (she diagnoses one of the kids at the house with Asperger's syndrome, then diagnoses Malcolm as not nearly good enough for her sister). But she has the ability to amuse while flaunting her heinous persona and inept parenting skills, courtesy of Baumbach's clever, jabby script. The same is true for Malcolm, a jobless, self-loathing schlub who offers such insights as "I have the emotional version of whatever bad Feng Shui would be."
For the most part, "Margot at the Wedding" is not packed with people that you would want to befriend somewhere between the vows and the fifth glass of bubbly, but they do express the familiar type of dysfunctional love present within most families. This is best expressed in the film's more subtle moments - notably, when Pauline and Margot are sitting on the couch moping over their, of course, miserable childhoods, and later erupting in joint laughter in the schizophrenic way that only sisters can pull off as normal.
"Margot at the Wedding" may prove too distasteful for some, too plotless for others, but even with its parade of unpleasantries it taps into something truthful and uncomfortably funny. Likewise, it is satisfying to watch this diverse group of actors push themselves in unforeseen ways - Kidman, briefly exiting her half-decade career slump, has rarely been better; Leigh is surprisingly ethereal under her husband's direction; and Black plays a more toned-down loser than his usual fare.
To its discredit, the film gets a bit sidetracked with shtick - too much time spent on a beloved Oak tree, a few too many shallow trysts - and doesn't have much of a pay-off. It's all about the experience which, like real weddings, may leave you elated for a while though just as content to bid farewell when the party's over.
