Though it might seem a little strange, for me, 'Rachel Getting Married' can be compared to the film 'Good Will Hunting'. Both have good, and much needed redemptive messages at their heart, yet both are clouded by much dubious content in-between, including a torrent of bad language (though perhaps less 'F' words in this film), and casual treatment of casual sex. The thing is, whilst not an ideal situation, for those most likely to benefit from watching these films, it is more likely that the rare redemptive elements will stand out and be taken note of, rather than the language and the sex; which are common place and (unfortunately) taken for granted in society anyway. And in that respect, for any young women struggling with issues of forgiveness and addiction, 'Rachel Getting Married' may offer some pointers in the right direction.
In particular, early on in the film, Kym delivers quite a powerful monologue about her lack of ability to forgive her self for the accident involving her younger brother, and even states that she cannot bring herself to believe in a God that is willing to forgive her for such a thing. Yet, without giving too much away, later on in the film, the explicit message is that she has forgiven herself, and therefore an implicit message can be obtained with respect to her acceptance of God. Or, if not a full acceptance of God, at least an implicit message can be concluded that she is now at a place where she is closer to that acceptance.
With respect to the pretext of the gathering - the wedding; again I have mixed thoughts on this. Considering marriage should be a sacrament and a unique encounter with Jesus, the ceremony and the build up to it were handled in a far too casual manner. However, that said, the implicit message that marriage is important, did come through strongly. Additionally, Rachel's speech stating that the measure of a good life is not how well loved you are, but how much you love others, had echoes of St Francis's prayer: 'Grant that I may not seek so much to be consoled, as to console...'.
The one overall complaint I do have is with the shaky, voyeuristic, mock-documentary-style camera work that flitted from one shot to another; and one scene to the next. The lack of focus and stability to me implied a lack of respect and focus on the characters and issues at hand; suggesting everything was a little trivial and undeserving of serious attention. Thankfully, the final shot of the film as the credits rolled, was afforded more dignity and became a fitting way to end the film.
The acting throughout was good, but the lack of range of emotions and different situations in the script, perhaps with the exception of Kym's (Anne Hathaway's) character, gave little chance for any performances to really stand out and make a mark.
