--- title: "Rachel Getting Married: the reviews" canonical: "https://film.one/film/rachel-getting-married/reviews" title_page: "https://film.one/film/rachel-getting-married" critics_score: 77 critics_reviews: 10 licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Rachel Getting Married (2008): what the critics said Critics' score 77 from 10 reviews: 9 positive, 0 mixed, 1 negative. Most critics welcome Rachel Getting Married as a warm, sometimes painful family drama, with praise centred on Anne Hathaway’s performance as the troubled Kym. The reviews find her convincing in the character’s neediness, self-loathing and capacity to disrupt her sister’s wedding, while also crediting the ensemble with making the family tensions feel real. Jonathan Demme’s loose, handheld staging earns broad approval for its intimacy, and the music and wedding celebrations bring welcome warmth to the conflict. Reservations centre on length and focus, particularly when the celebrations stretch out. Sight and Sound finds the wedding sequence overextended, while Slant sees a conventional family-dysfunction screenplay made more interesting by Demme’s staging and communal scenes. The spread is mostly favourable rather than evenly divided: IndieWire offers a clear dissent, rejecting the approach to family drama and performance that most critics find persuasive. ## Time Out — Tom Huddleston Rating 5/5. 20 January 2009. Demme returns to freewheeling indie form with an intimate, participatory comedy-drama that overwhelms through its captured-reality technique and diegetic music. It is long and unfocused but exhilarating for those who surrender to it. [Read the review](https://www.timeout.com/movies/rachel-getting-married) ## The AV Club — Scott Tobias Fi1m's normalised score 85/100 (inferred from the text). 2 October 2008. Demme is at his most humane, capturing warmth and compassion amid family tensions without villains. The film harnesses genuine love and good feeling at the wedding, making it a vibrant, moving party despite underlying pain. [Read the review](https://www.avclub.com/rachel-getting-married-1798204965) ## Evening Standard Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 10 April 2012. The critic praises Anne Hathaway's loose-limbed, self-loathing performance as the havoc-wreaking ex-junkie Kym alongside Jonathan Demme's unrehearsed, home-movie approach to filming the family wedding weekend. Strong turns from Debra Winger, Bill Irwin and Rosemarie DeWitt are highlighted, as is the film's shifting incidental music that heightens emotional beats. [Read the review](https://www.standard.co.uk/culture/film/relationship-test-in-rachel-getting-married-7438933.html) ## Little White Lies — Ellen E Jones Rating 2/4/4. 22 January 2009. Hathaway delivers a sensational turn as the troubled Kym in this warm, observant family drama full of moving and funny moments. The script excels at depicting family dynamics and roles, making it an unpretentious and inviting watch despite some longueurs. [Read the review](https://lwlies.com/reviews/rachel-getting-married) ## Screen Daily Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 3 September 2008. Festival review. Hand-held and spontaneous, the film pays tribute to Altman with superb performances, especially Hathaway, though its length and musical interludes may limit commercial appeal. It feels fresh and assured overall. [Read the review](https://www.screendaily.com/rachel-getting-married/4040522.article) ## The Hollywood Reporter — Deborah Young Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 2 September 2008. Festival review. Demme brings honest cinema and lightness of touch to family conflict, balancing smiles and tears at a wedding. Hathaway delivers an award-worthy central performance that gives the script room to avoid genre clichés. [Read the review](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-reviews/rachel-getting-married-2-125766/) ## Slant Magazine — Andrew Schenker Rating 3/4. 19 September 2008. Demme offsets the screenplay's conventional suburban dysfunction with disorienting handheld staging and warm communal set pieces. The split between drab narrative and celebratory wedding warmth works in the film's favor, leaving viewers with a generous embrace of humanity. [Read the review](https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/rachel-getting-married/) ## IndieWire — Michael Koresky Fi1m's normalised score 30/100 (inferred from the text). 1 October 2008. The review takes a negative stance on Demme's film, declining to embrace its approach to family drama and performance. [Read the review](https://www.indiewire.com/criticism/culture/review-we-regretfully-decline-jonathan-demmes-rachel-getting-married-71664/) ## Los Angeles Times — Kenneth Turan 3 October 2008. The critic welcomes the film as a return to Demme's independent roots and praises Hathaway's career-changing turn as the ultra-troubled Kym, along with the ensemble's edgy realism. It singles out the mix of bitter and sweet elements, with music providing joy amid family turmoil. [Read the review](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/la-et-rachel3-2008oct03-story.html) ## Sight and Sound — Philip Kemp 1 February 2009. The film is both a loose, freewheeling return to form and overextended self-indulgence. It excels in tracking family tensions through restless camerawork and strong performances but loses focus in its lengthy celebratory wedding sequence. [Read the review](http://old.bfi.org.uk/sightandsound/review/4725) ## The Guardian — Peter Bradshaw 23 January 2009. The critic praises Demme's loose, home-movie style and the authentic, overemotional performances that make the family dynamics feel real. Hathaway excels as the needy, limelight-seeking recovering addict who opens old wounds at her sister's wedding. [Read the review](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2009/jan/23/rachel-getting-married-film-review-anne-hathaway) ## The New York Times — A.O. Scott 3 October 2008. The critic notes that the film centers on the troubled younger sister Kym despite the title, praising Anne Hathaway's magnetic and un-princessy performance as a damaged, narcissistic figure. It highlights the movie's authentic vitality and expansive sympathies amid familiar themes of addiction and family dysfunction. [Read the review](https://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/03/movies/03rach.html) ## The Times — Edward Porter 25 January 2009. The critic highlights Hathaway's fine, convincing performance as the selfish, self-deprecating Kym and praises the excellent cast and Demme's fizzy, skilful staging of the wedding proceedings and family tensions. [Read the review](https://www.thetimes.com/culture/tv-radio/article/rachel-getting-married-s0vvvn60hm8) ## Paste — Robert Davis Fi1m's normalised score 85/100 (inferred from the text). 3 October 2008. The film is a strong, authentic portrait of family dynamics that succeeds through its patient, documentary-like structure and ensemble performances. Hathaway's fierce yet nuanced turn as the troubled Kym stands out as a highlight amid the wedding celebrations and emotional tensions. [Read the review](https://www.pastemagazine.com/movies/jonathan-demme/rachel-getting-married-1) ## Eye for Film — Chris Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 26 January 2009. The critic finds the film an honest, intense family drama with documentary-like realism that rewards viewers seeking substance over rom-com formulas. They single out Anne Hathaway's raw, unadorned performance as the standout element that makes the story compelling despite its challenges. [Read the review](https://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/review/rachel-getting-married-film-review-by-chris) --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Our review: https://film.one/film/rachel-getting-married.md