Family dysfunction has its own language, with its own loaded rhythms and insinuating inflections, and writer-director Noah Baumbach is a movie master of just such linguistics. A controlling mother who has arrived at her childhood home for the marriage of her free-spirited sister (Jennifer Jason Leigh), Margot (Nicole Kidman) even delivers compliments that sting. Watching her unknowingly hurt those around her, especially her adoring adolescent son (Zane Pais), is wrenching. Baumbach doesn’t offer much relief, let alone redemption. More positive-minded viewers will have to take solace in the excellent performances, from Kidman’s precise, unflattering portrait to Leigh’s sad loopiness to a nicely modulated Jack Black as the unpromising fiancé. Their strong work makes the movie’s misery easier to bear.
