If I had to pick a pair of actors that I never thought I’d see together in a film, Nicole Kidman and Jack Black would probably be at the top of my list (somewhere near Dame Judi Dench and Borat). But yet here they are, together in the latest portrait of a dysfunctional family from writer/director Noah Baumbach. Baumbach also wrote and directed The Squid and the Whale, a portrait of one of the most dysfunctional families I’ve ever seen, so the man knows what he’s doing.

Kidman is Margot, the disapproving and judgmental older sister of Jennifer Jason Leigh’s Pauline, who is engaged to Jack Black’s Malcolm, a role that’s far more serious than what we’re used to seeing him play. Pauline is perfectly happy in her relationship, until Margot arrives and plants the seed of doubt in her brain by bluntly stating that Malcolm is “like the guys we rejected when we were 16.” That seed starts to grow and blossom, causing strain and anger between all three characters.

I liked The Squid and the Whale and I like family dramas that don’t involve my own, but I’m going to wait and RENT IT. Now, if my Judi Dench/Borat vehicle ever gets picked up, that would be something worth paying to see…I’m thinking a comedic update of a Dickens’ novel…

Margot at the Wedding is rated R and opens October 19. No official site yet, here’s the IMDB page.

Ya know, I suppose I might have been interested in this movie, but the trailer totally turned me off. Mostly, it was the blatent, pathetic attempt to leech off the success of Lord of the Rings. That kind of ploy only makes me think that this movie isn’t strong enough to hold up on its own. I’m personally going to SKIP IT.

The Golden Compass is not yet rated and doesn’t open until December 7. (Official Site)