Margot At The Wedding (2007)

An uptight writer (Nicole Kidman) and her son (Zane Pais), who's going through puberty, arrive at the house she grew up in where her estranged sister (Jennifer Jason Leigh) now lives. The reason for the visit is to attend her sister's wedding. But it isn't long before the dynamics of their barely buried dissension surfaces. Directed by Noah Baumbach (THE SQUID AND THE WHALE), this humorous yet incisive "warts and all" examination of two antagonistic sisters is an impassioned piece of film making. Kidman's Margot is a passive aggressive intellectual with a cruel streak while Leigh's Pauline is a neurotic free spirit unable to face realities and make rational decisions including this possibly disastrous second marriage. Both Kidman and Leigh are superb here and Baumbach's razor sharp, laced with wit but emotionally astute script allows them fully fleshed characters. You can't really like any of the film's characters including Jack Black as Leigh's self pitying loser fiance. It's to Baumbach's and the actors' credit that they're still compelling to watch and we're fully invested in their lives anyway. A little slice of intelligent film making for grown ups. With John Turturro, Ciaran Hinds and Flora Cross.