to get this out of the way, i thought the family in this movie was really annoying! i didn't like them very well and my husband hated them. watching them interact together, especially a scene where they had a race filling the dishwasher, was absolutely painful. why that matters is that this movie plunked us down in the middle of their lives as they were living through this very stressful weekend and we were there living it too - we could have been an usher or maybe a cousin or something. it was like it was happening to us, a big difference from just watching other people being dysfunctional (Margot at the Wedding). it was more personal somehow. It also subtly captured the way some families can't connect and how things are left "on the surface" because its easier. yes, Anne Hathaway was amazing but so was everyone else (Debra Winger was absolutely perfect). anyway, annoying people but a wonderful movie. it had won me over even before the Neil Young song!