Review of Margot at the Wedding (2007) by Anthony B — 01 Feb 2018

Noah Baumbach's mean-spirited entry of his rich people with problems franchise, which consists of practically every film he's ever made (Squid and the Whale, Greenberg, The Meyerowitz Stories, etc.

) If this were a Star Wars film, it'd be Empire. This one is odd, bleak and odd, occasionally amusing, but so uncomfortably odd and ugly just for the sake of. Surprisingly the best thing about Margo at the Wedding is Jack Black, who, let's be honest, hasn't turned in a show stealing performance since High Fidelity.

His darker take on buffoonery here works really well in small doses and fortunately, he is underutilized. Also, there is (while not funny) a noteworthy cameo by John Turturro that provides the movie with its only bit of humanity.

As for the other 99.9% of the film, it is a repetitive, merciless competition between nasty, manic-depressive cartoon characters who take turns attacking/hurting one another with snide remarks and betrayal.

For a movie with wedding in the title, this one was about as upbeat as a funeral, and regardless of whether that was the point, on screen it does not come across as a point worth making.