She’s the underdog but Anne Hathaway deserves an Oscar for best actress tonight for her break-through performance in “Rachel Getting Married.”
Hathaway sheds her princess image as Kym, a troubled loser who takes leave from a drug rehab unit to attend her more-perfect sister’s wedding.
The movie directed by Jonathan Demme is difficult to watch at times because it’s too heavy on a version of female drama that has been without anti-anxiety meds and martinis for too long.
The best scene involves a slug match between Kym and her distant mother portrayed by Debra Winger, who deserves to be punched for her long absence from film. Hathaway’s character goes on to attend the wedding with a black eye dripping in pancake makeup, while invoking immense sorrow from the bleeding hearts in the audience.
Hathaway’s competition is near insurmountable because she faces off against Meryl Streep and her brilliant performance as a stern nun in “Doubt.” That film could have been the front-runner for best movie had it not been for Danny Boyle’s fantastic “Slumdog Millionaire.” And everyone, including Time magazine, is saying Kate Winslet will steal the award from the pack for her starring role as a Nazi pedophile in “The Reader.” Winslet does come to the table with a sympathy card for having been nominated for Oscars three other times, only to go home empty handed. But her character isn't likable enough by any stretch of the word to deserve praise from the industry.
Oscars also should go tonight to Sean Penn for “Milk” and Philip Seymour Hoffman and Amy Adams for playing opposite Streep in “Doubt.”
Hathaway just may be the surprise winner because Oscar has a history of being friendly to the beautiful actress who makes herself ugly for a movie and retains a bit of her charm. Remember Charlize Theron in “Monster?”
Hathaway is nowhere near as freaky as a serial killer, but in her movie, she gives us a perfect definition of the creature known as a junkie and how one always seems to wreck a family.
(Photo courtesy Sony Pictures)
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