Loading Dishwashers

This afternoon, we caught the new movie "Rachel Getting Married." The film looks at a few days in the life of a young woman named Kim, played by Anne Hathaway, who leaves a drug rehabilitation clinic to attend her sister's wedding festivities.

Directed by Jonathan Demme of "Silence of Lambs" and "Philadelphia" fame, "RGM" is a well-done movie that I never need to watch again -- only a voyeur would want to see one dysfunctional family's problems laid so tragically bare. (I've got enough of my own, thank you very much.)

I particularly never again want to watch the tension-laden rehearsal dinner scene in which Kim gives a drawn-out and painful toast.

There is a bit of Oscar buzz surrounding Hathaway's performance and it's somewhat deserved. In this role, she shows her more serious acting chops. At one point, I thought she was channeling a late-in-life Judy Garland.

The great actress Anna Deavere Smith had a bit part in "RGM" as the wife of Kim's father. It would be great to see more of Smith on the big screen -- in her own starring role.

Kim's father was portrayed by Bill Irwin, who is probably best known for his work as a mime. It was an unusual casting choice that worked quite well. He was the energy in a good scene in which he loaded a dishwasher. (Symbolism likely, I guess.)