Is ‘Rachel Getting Married’ Anne Hathaway’s ‘08 Oscar Bait?

Posted by Robin Ruinsky (robin@filmschoolrejects.com) on August 7, 2008

Anne Hathaway has hacked off her hair. Will this help her win an Oscar nomination for her role as a dysfunctional sibling in a dysfunctional family in Jonathan Demme’s Rachel Getting Married ? It depends on whether her performance lives up to the advance buzz. And there is some buzz reported by the website The Envelope which predicts the awards.

It’s not like Hathaway doesn’t have that level of work in her. She did a fine turn as Jake Gyllenhaal’s increasingly bitter and brittle wife in Brokeback Mountain and played effectively opposite Meryl Streep in The Devil Wears Prada.

This is the second year in a row that there has been a “sister arrives to ruin the wedding” movie. Last year’s was Margot at the Wedding starring Nicole Kidman as the sibling most likely to wreck impending nuptials. While Margot was a judgmental writer who disapproved of her sister’s choice, Hathaway’s Kim is a drug addict in and out of rehab who drops in to endanger the big day.

Rachel Getting Married debuts at the Venice Film Festival in a few weeks and it’s not just Hathaway who might be hoping for some artistic recognition. Director Demme won an Oscar for Silence of the Lambs but his last full length feature The Manchurian Candidate was a good film that suffered in comparison to the original.

The trailer for Rachel Getting Married shows the impact of the arrival of Kim not only on her sister’s wedding but on the entire family. Hathaway certainly does appear to be the center of the film which looks like it might come to a warm and fuzzy conclusion. Or not, we’re talking trailer here, so who knows.

Other news coming out of this production is the return of Debra Winger to the big screen as Hathaway’s screen Mom. This is Winger’s first big screen appearance since 2004’s Eulogy. There was a time earlier in her career when she would have played the role of the troubled Kim.

In a few weeks we should know from the film festival reviews if Hathaway lives up to the buzz or if it’s just hype. For now, all we have is this first trailer, which can also be seen in high definition over at Yahoo Movies.

Do you think this will be Ms. Hathaway’s Oscar-worthy performance, or is it too soon to tell?

Read more articles by Robin Ruinsky