After the Wedding

Directed by Bart Freundlich, After the Wedding follows the co-founder of an Indian orphanage (Michelle Williams’ Isabel Andersen) as she travels to New York City to meet a potential benefactor (Julianne Moore’s Theresa Young) – with complications ensuing after it becomes clear that Isabel knows Theresa’s husband (Billy Crudup’s Oscar). Filmmaker Freundlich, working from his own screenplay, delivers an exceedingly deliberate endeavor that is, for the most part, unable to wholeheartedly grab (and sustain) the viewer’s interest and attention, and it’s clear, ultimately, that the movie is at its best in the brief stretch set after Isabel arrives in America and before she figures out exactly what’s going on – as this inherently-compelling mystery does provide the picture with a dramatic tension that’s otherwise entirely (and woefully) absent. There’s little doubt, then, that After the Wedding‘s relatively tolerable atmosphere is due predominantly to the top-notch performances and smattering of striking, engrossing sequences (and it doesn’t hurt, either, that Freundlich proves all-too-willing to imbue his protagonists’ with often impressively unlikable qualities), and yet the movie remains disastrously uninvolving for the duration of its overlong running time and eventually builds towards an underwhelming, anticlimactic final stretch that cements its place as a palpable misfire – which is a shame, certainly, given the talent both in front of and behind the camera.

** out of ****

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