THE VOICE OF CHICAGO'S GAY, LESBIAN, BI, TRANS AND QUEER COMMUNITY SINCE 1985

In Rachel, Anne Hathaway ( pictured ) of The Devil Wears Prada and The Princess Diaries plays Kym—and gives a career-altering performance. Kym's a struggling drug addict coming out of a five-month rehab stint to attend her sister's wedding. Kym is immediately introduced as a cranky bundle of nerves, quick with the biting retort while proclaiming her 'Victim' status. Arriving at the Connecticut home of her father ( Bill Irwin ) and stepmother ( Anna Deavere Smith ) , she's confronted with a houseful of indifferent family friends focused on the wedding at hand instead of her arrival. Old wounds are almost immediately trotted out: The father ( Bill Irwin, in a masterful performance ) fusses over her too much, Rachel ( Mad Men's Rosemarie Dewitt, who is graceful and steely at the same time ) is jealous of the attention Kym's addiction has gotten, etc. When Debra Winger ( in a welcome return to the screen as the mother who keeps herself at a pleasant but icy distance ) shows up, it's apparent from her first interaction with Kym that there's much more complicated stuff ahead.

Demme, working with a marvelously detailed script by first-time screenwriter Jenny Lumet, shot the movie with a handheld camera, like in TV's Cops or a cheesy reality show, and the jerkiness takes some getting used to. But slowly, the in-your-face style pays off, and the movie gets to such an intimate place you feel like another family member witnessing the emotional explosions and scabs being picked over. As in life, some of the problems get addressed while many go back underground to be revisited again at a later date. The improvisatory feel to many of the scenes brings out the best in the wonderful cast, a catch-as-catch-can approach that harkens back to Demme's pre-Silence of the Lambs pictures that electrifies material that, in other hands. would have been mundane. ( A confrontation between Hathaway and Winger is unforgettable. ) Like Demme's early pictures—Something Wild, Married to the Mob, etc.—Rachel Getting Married is interwoven with a seductive succession of diverse cultural touches involving music, dress, food and fashion. Demme's approach is that of a sensualist and, with this mixture of familial drama and embrace of cultural richness, Rachel at the Wedding captures what has to be one of the coolest and most emotionally enthralling wedding celebrations ever. It's simply a great movie.

*****

Also great is Save Me, the story of Mark ( Chad Allen ) a drug- and sex-addicted party boy who is offered a last chance at redemption after an overdose by his brother—via an ex-gay halfway house run by the firm, no-nonsense but compassionate Gayle ( Judith Light ) , a conservative Christian missionary, and her gentle mannered husband, Ted ( Stephen Lang ) . 'We specialize in 'sexual brokenness,'' Gayle tells Mark. Seeing a lifeline, Mark enters the program. The other 'patients' espouse the party line, doing their best to rationalize the innate gayness out of their souls while watching each other for 'inappropriate touching.'

Nevertheless, Mark, who has never had a relationship, finds himself drawn to Scott ( Queer As Folk's Robert Gant ) —who is also attrated to Mark—but Gayle also sees the growing attraction and is determined to keep the two from regressing to their former sinful 'lifestyle.'

Save Me covers the same territory explored from the lesbian point of view in the darkly comic But I'm a Cheerleader! ( with the two making a very entertaining double feature ) , but its nuanced approach and excellent, complex performances by the three leads ( who also produced ) help elevate the familiarity of the ex-gay movement material. Light is especially compelling as Gayle, so emotionally damaged by the loss of her gay son that she's channeled it all into this ex-gay halfway house and a constant flow of religious psychobabble. Save Me is a moving character drama that tackles a controversial subject with compassion and insight. Here, after a long dry spell, is an example of queer filmmaking at its best. Hallelujah, my gay brother!

Film notes:

—A sneak-peek preview party is being held for Fish Out of Water, a documentary by Chicagoan Ky Dickens that focuses on homosexuality and religion. The sneak peek, which includes complimentary cocktails, hors d'oeuvres, entertainment by cabaret performer Miki Greenberg and a meet-and-greet with Dickens will take place Saturday, Oct. 11 ( National Coming Out Day ) , 6:30-9 p.m. at Mary's Attic ( 5400 N. Clark, above Hamburger Mary's ) . An after-party with DJ Stinky Pink follows from 9 p.m. to 3 a.m. Tickets for the film preview party are $40 in advance and $50 at the door while a $5 suggested donation is asked for the post-party. Proceeds from the event will help finance postproduction on the documentary. Tickets and further information are at www.brownpapertickets.com/event/43642.

—Chicago-born jazz legend Anita O'Day—whose troubles with heroin and offstage hijinks earned her the nickname 'The Jezebel of Jazz' and whose fiery rendition of Is You Is Or Is You Ain't My Baby? provided the soundtrack for the memorable opening sequence in gay director John Cameron Mitchell's Shortbus—is now the subject of Anita O'Day: The Life of a Jazz Singer. The film, a walk on the wild side through O'Day's extraordinary life ( which combines thrilling retro footage of O'Day in performance, and interviews and recording sessions with the legend shortly before her death in 2006 ) opens for an exclusive engagement at Chicago's Landmark Century Centre Friday, Oct. 10.

Check out my archived reviews at www.windycitytimes.com or www.knightatthemovies.com . Readers can leave feedback at the latter Web site, where there is also ordering information on my book of collected film reviews, Knight at the Movies 2004-2006.