Helena From The Wedding Movie Review – SXSW

Helena from the Wedding is a film that is only for its characters, but it isn't that awful a scenario, because you're probably one of them. The appeal of a movie with a cast of eight thirty-somethings who go to a cabin in the woods for New Year's weekend (sans axe murderer) is pretty well limited to thirty-somethings who at least do dinner parties. That's not the smallest demographic in the world, but you have to further narrow things down to those within the group who are willing to sit through a movie that consists of very little more than said cast of eight chatting.

It's all a shame really, because there's a lot to explore here, and those older and younger would do well to lend this one their ear.

While most straight-forwardly a story about marriage and/or relationships, what they are, and how they work, it is also quite an interesting play on how quickly we find ourselves completely lost when our facade breaks down, and how easily that happens.

Recently married couple Alice (Melanie Lynskey) and Alex (Lee Tergesen) invite some friends to their cabin for the weekend, and one of the unspoken bits of brilliance is simply the fact that you can't help but think how differently this casual get together would have played out, if not for the arrival of surprise guest Helena (Community's Gillian Jacobs).

Though not to blame for anything, she is the catalyst that sets off a curious chain reaction. Alex, already on edge because he isn't quite blissfully happy in his marriage (and believing he must pretend he is in front of his friends), had/has quite the crush on Helena, and he's had no time to prepare for her appearance. Alice does not appreciate his reaction.

Then we throw in Nick (Paul Fitzgerald), who is more or less bound by situation to be interested in Helena. She's attractive, and they are the only two single people at the cabin.

Helena shows up with our friends Eve (Dagmara Dominczyk) and Steven (Corey Stoll), seemingly the most normal couple involved, but Eve is pregnant, and she thinks Steven might be cheating on her. Steven is also something of a blowhard, and his factor as an irritant aids in spinning many of the guests out of their generally friendly demeanor.

Finally, Don (Dominic Fumusa) and Lynn (Jessica Hecht) aren't even pretending at being happy, with Lynn not simply treating Don as her whipping boy, but parading it around.

Apart from a few minor missteps, the feature debut of writer/director Joseph Infantolino is the kind of film that, in a better world, would be all you need on your resume. Lynn and Alice are just slightly overdone, and a few scenes are trying too hard, but beyond that the movie is simply a joy to revel in... even just in being part of its effort.

The combination of rich characters, realistic dialogue, and the moving, honest depiction of what people aren't saying, put together with whispered conversations, and that which is said just for the sake of saying it, is a rare treat. This is how people are. Slipping into the bedroom with your wife to analyze the conversation that just took place in the kitchen, or compare dirt. Floating from dynamic to dynamic in order to confide, get others to confide, or lie to people who probably know we're not being honest.

In the end, the story shadows its answers, and doesn't really have any anyway, which is more to the good. Really, what is there to say, other than, "this is how it is?"

The nonsensical is played against what is supposed to somehow make sense, and the general farce of it all comes through. Taking a gun against long odds that a bear will teleport in front of you, or moving all the furniture out of the house to find a backgammon piece are crazy (if funny) things to do, but pretending you have a great job, or happy marriage is simply the norm of how one is supposed to act. You don't open the conversation at your dinner party by divulging your lack of cheer, and you certainly don't act like someone who is unhappy. But, why not?

More importantly, is all the pretending actually the main cause of our need to pretend? If there's some "better" thing to pretend to be, it must be because there's something out there we want, and focusing on that keeps us from focusing on what we have... or who we are. Whatever we're pretending not to be might not be that bad after all, but at this point, how would we know?

It's a lot to think about for a film that doesn't say anything, but like its characters, it speaks in the pregnant pauses, and tells you how it feels by the manner in which it is silent. Don't we all?

Rating:  

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About Marc Eastman

Marc Eastman is the owner and operator of Are You Screening? and has been writing film reviews for over a decade, and several branches of the internet's film review world have seen his name. His reviews have brought him personal praise from the director of a major motion picture, and have been used as required reading in a course at a major University. These priceless rewards, along with just bags of cash, keep him from straying from freelance writing. He is also a member of The Broadcast Film Critics Association and The Broadcast Television Journalists Association.

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