Rachel Getting Married (Blu-ray)

Ever since she kidnapped the attention of the tweenage world with the fluffy shite that was The Princess Diaries and it’s even more turgid sequel, there was always a very real possibility that Anne Hathaway was going to be nothing more that just another pretty face who did little more than adorn posters for bloody awful movies.  With her beaming grin seeing Ella Enchanted kick a relatively large amount of celluloid arse at the box office and her bare tits ensuring the dire Havoc sold far more copies than it deserved on DVD, it seemed as if she’d forever be a harbinger of bad cinema.

That all changed back in 2005 when Brokeback Mountain came along and she showed that she had some real acting chops. Dishing out a heap of memorable performances since then (not including Bride Wars), it’s easy to see why she’s now considered by many as one of the hottest talents in Hollywood. Still, if you’ve been waiting to see what the girl can really do, then you have to check out Rachel Getting Married.

Hathaway plays Kym, a recovering junkie who’s been let out of rehab for a few days to attend her sister’s wedding. Reunited with her family, tension quickly escalates as Kym’s relatives take the opportunity to assess how she got into the state she’s in. Covering the character’s wide emotional gamut with ease, Hathaway has easily delivered the performance of her career. It’s of a standard that should have seen her waltz off with many more gongs than she actually received. Indeed it’s a crying shame that she was up against Kate Winslet for 2008’s Best Actress Oscar.

As for the film itself, it’s a typically powerful and stunning effort from Silence Of The Lambs helmer Jonathan Demme. Breathing atmosphere and resonance into Jenny Lumet’s brilliant emotionally saturated script, Demme once again shows how adept he is at handling potent source material. Incredibly shot and thoroughly engaging, it makes for an unlikely cracker when it comes to high definition.

The image quality is practically flawless. Rendered with smooth, crisp detail and barely a trace of artefacting, it’s a fantastic representation of the original footage. In fact the only real downside is that the image can be little noisy at times. While the colours can, at times, seem a tad flat, it’s again merely to do with the image source and not the transfer itself. It comes together as a solidly impressive picture that delivers the goods.

As for the audio, track, that’s a little less impressive. While everything is as clear as a bell, the track isn’t particularly deep. Doing very little to give your surround setup a good workout, it’s definitely not a title you can use to show off your 5.1 system. Extras-wise, there’s no exclusive Blu-ray content on board, which is a shame. Still, the enlightening commentaries and featurettes that decorate the DVD are all present and accounted for. The result is a title that’s well worth picking up on Blu-ray, but only when it’s dropped in price.    

Overall Verdict: A stunningly well crafted movie that looks very impressive in high def. Shame the audio and extras don’t do quite as good a job.

Special Features:
Commentary with Actress Rosemarie DeWitt
Commentary with Producer Neda Armian, Screenwriter Jenny Lumet and Editor Tim Squyres
A Look Behind the Scenes of Rachel Getting Married
The Wedding Band
Cast and Crew Q&A at the Jacob Burns Center
Deleted Scenes

Reviewer: Jordan Brown