November 16, 2007 -- I'VE had root canals that were more enjoyable than "Margot at the Wedding," Noah Baumbach's hugely pretentious, ugly and annoying follow-up to "The Squid and the Whale."I don't know what was worse in this abominable movie: the characters (some of the most despicable in recent cinematic history,) or the cinematography. It's a just plain ugly movie, in every sense of the word, the sort of thing that normally happens when American directors try to make knockoffs of French New Wave films or, even worse, Dogme 95 crap.I thought the earlier film was a tad overpraised, but it's a masterpiece compared to "Margot," a ham-fisted, faux French film peopled with the kind of self-absorbed literary neurotics you'd immediately flee from at a party.
I like Baumbach, I really do. "Kicking and Screaming" (no, not the Will Ferrell soccer movie) was one of the better comedies of the '90s, "Mr. Jealousy" wasn't much of a step down, and while I thought "Squid and the Whale" was overpraised, I'm still glad I saw it.
But 'Margot'? I detested every moment of it- especially an ultra-botoxed Nicole Kidman's attempts at expressing emotion with a frozen face. Stay away from this movie. It's like "Arrested Development," with all the hateful family dysfunction, but none of the laughs.
Posted by Stephen Silver at November 19, 2007 10:06 PM