Margot (Nicole Kidman) is a driven and successful writer who lives in Manhattan. Although she hasn't spoken to her sister, Pauline (Jennifer Jason Leigh) in quite some time, when she receives an invitation to Pauline's upcoming wedding, she and son Claude (Zane Pais) board a train and head to the old family homestead. When Pauline's fiance, Malcolm (Jack Black), arrives at the ferry to pick them up, Margot is immediately put off by him. His unkempt appearance and brash attitude just grate against her cool demeanor. But as we soon find out, all is not well with Margot, despite the fact that she loves to impose her own views on everyone else's issues, along with writing her stories based on her family's experiences. It turns out she is having marital problems and plans on leaving husband Jim (John Turturro), meanwhile she is having an affair of sorts with long-time friend and co-screenplay collaborator, Dick (Ciaran Hinds), who also happens to be Pauline's neighbor. In addition, we discover that Dick's trashy daughter seems hell-bent on seducing everyone she comes across, including the soon-to-be groom.
Malcolm is a strange chap with no real career, so that draws Margot's ire. She feels her sister can do better. Through some sister to sister chats, Pauline reveals that she is pregnant, but hasn't told anyone yet. Margot, who has a strangely close relationship with Claude, tells him about the pregnancy and soon, the word is out. Pauline feels compelled to repay the favor and spills the beans about Margot's upcoming separation. As the wedding grows closer, relationships implode and personalities clash. In the end, nothing is really settled and we are sort of left wondering what happens next for the characters.
Noah Baumbach gathers an ensemble cast in this purely character-driven film. Claude (Zane Pais) is really excellent in his role of boy-becoming-man and seems to effortlessly portray his character. Nicole Kidman has a way of playing aloof and condescending females and she definitely has the role of Margot down in spades. Jack Black almost seems to play himself - the oaf who often puts his foot in his own mouth, whereas Jennifer Jason Leigh perfectly nails Pauline, the woman who is quite possibly settling for Malcolm because he is comfortable and accepts her for who she is, when her family doesn't.
It seems that Baumbach's goal in many scenes is to simply make the viewer uncomfortable. Seeing Jack Black naked is not high on my list of priorities, yet we get to see his backside, along with plenty of shots of his basketball-emulating belly. I was just thankful he didn't turn around. Jennifer Jason Leigh sits around discussing family matters with her shirt open and her breasts exposed, and there's even an odd scene with Ms. Kidman masturbating. I didn't necessarily see a need for these scenes and yet there they were. I guess maybe the point was that the family members made each other uncomfortable, so why should the audience be any different?
There's a featurette with Noah Baumbach and Jennifer Jason Leigh discussing the film and how it was to work with the various actors and it does shed a bit of light onto Baumbach's ideas behind the film. It's almost as if a conversation between the two of them was recorded and the audience is simply listening in, so fans of the two may really enjoy it. That's about it as far as special features, however.
Margot at the Wedding is an odd movie. It has some really funny moments and some rather awkward ones as well. If you like quirky films, than this one may be for you, but it's definitely not for everyone.
