Body of Lies and Rachel Getting Married

Ridley Scott has always been a bit uneven in his output. Bladerunner is one of the five greatest science fiction films of all time and Alien is a perfect exercise in horror, but nothing he released between Bladrunner and Gladiator really worked for me. Gladiator and Black Hawk Down were both really entertaining and well made, and Kingdom of Heaven became a near masterpiece in it's director's cut. That means, coming into Body Of Lies, I had enjoyed five of his sixteen films, not exactly a great proportion. Thankfully, Body Of Lies brought it to 6/17. This is certainly no masterpiece, but it is one of the best films about the war on terror, and the performances from DiCaprio, Crowe and Mark Strong are all wonderful. In fact, right now I'd say Crowe deserves a best supporting actor nomination. The script isn't great, and a romantic subplot does nothing but add unnecessary length to the film, but the performances and Scott's direction help overcome that in one of the year's more entertaining films.
Rating: ***

I have never thought much of Jonathan Demme as a director. Silence of the Lambs succeeded because the performances were great and the story was genuinely scary. Visually, the film was generally pedestrian with a few moments of true suspense, especially the final moments in the killers house. Outside of that, I've never been a huge fan of anything he's done, although I haven't seen any of his recent documentaries, and those documentaries certainly influenced the direction of this film. It is told in a series of long handheld takes (except for one seemingly misplaced underwater shot at the end) that give it a documentary feel. Aside from the visuals, this film has a wonderful screenplay that certainly deserves consideration come awards season. Few recent scripts have found as much success in the study of dysfunctional families. Still, despite all of that, this film belongs to one person and one person only: Anne Hathaway. She is the star of the film as Kym, sister to the titular Rachel (the wonderful Rosemarie Dewitt). As the movie opens, Kym is getting out of rehab for the weekend so that she can attend the wedding. Throughout the movie we slowly find out why she was there and why seeing her family is so difficult, culminating in a confession at her AA meeting that will break the heart of any viewer with a soul. Thankfully, as we see Rachel's tragedy, we also see the wedding and hear the music surrounding them. The families are happy, and you want them to remain that way. One of the film's strong points is the fact that, even though it is an interracial wedding, nobody mentions race. Maybe parts of our society have moved on to that point. I also mentioned the music because it is an extremely important part of this movie. There is no soundtrack, just music being constantly played in the background, and Rachel's fiance Sydney is played by TV On the Radio frontman Tunde Adebimpe.
There are moments that don't work, most notably an awkward competition between Sydney and the girls' father, but Hathaway's stunning performance (her best yet), the great supporting cast and Demme's deft direction keep it going towards a wonderful conclusion. This is one of the year's best films, and I hope the academy remembers it in January.
Rating: ****