Review of Margot at the Wedding (2007) by Chris W — 04 Nov 2008

Baumbach's Margot at the Wedding is best appreciated as a clinic in sharp writing and an advertisement for Nicole Kidman's acting abilities; the script, which has been commonly denounced for being one-note pessimism, is, without pause, pessimistic, but Baumbach is showing us familiar situations, even if they are stripped of happiness.

He remains one of the few writers today who can perfectly capture human interaction; his New Wave camera adds to the dislocated feel of his third pic. More confident writing; but less evocative than Squid and the Whale, his breakthrough from 2005.