The film After the Wedding wasn't on my radar at all during the Sundance Film Festival this year but I found the trailer to be intriguing so I saw it last night. Even though there are some great performances, it fell a little flat for me. Isabel (Michelle Williams) is an American woman who runs an orphanage in India. Theresa (Julianne Moore) is a wealthy media mogul who has offered to fund her orphanage with the proviso that Isabel come to New York to meet personally with her. The visit coincides with the wedding of Theresa's daughter Grace (Abby Quinn) so Isabel is invited. At the wedding, Isabel is surprised to see Theresa's husband Oscar (Billy Crudup), with whom she had a former relationship, and all three of them of them are forced to confront the past when further secrets are revealed. The story is compelling enough and, as previously mentioned, both Williams and Moore give highly nuanced performances. Williams reveals more with just a look than other actresses do with pages of dialogue, particularly in a scene where Isabel advocates for vaccines to keep children from dying of preventable diseases only to be interrupted by Theresa berating her assistant for not finding enough lobster to serve at the wedding and in a scene where she first recognizes Oscar across the room. Moore is also excellent, particularly in a vodka fueled rant. Despite these performances, many of the scenes lose their emotional impact with strange editing. The camera always seems to cut away just when the characters are on the verge of a breakthrough and I kept wishing for more fireworks (beyond the fireworks at the wedding!). Crudup, especially, is very restrained in this role and Quinn is not given much to do considering how integral her character is to the story. I was hoping for more with such an interesting premise but Williams and Moore elevate it enough for me to recommend it.
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