Baumbach takes on sibling rivalry in "Margot"

From the title to some of the plotting, there are affectionate nods in the direction of Eric Rohmer’s "Pauline at the Beach" to be found here, but the tone is unmistakably Baumbach’s.

Kidman’s Margot Zeller is an outspoken New York-based short-story writer travelling with her newly adolescent son, Claude (Zane Pais), back to her old family home, where her estranged sister, Pauline (Leigh), is about to be married.

Never one to mince words, Margot makes it clear to anyone who’ll listen that she doesn’t approve of Pauline’s fiance, Malcolm (a very amusing Jack Black), an aspiring musician and artist who seems intent on making a career out of unemployment.

Although technically more of a free spirit, Pauline proves to be as weighted down by all the family baggage as Margot, and their proximity in the same geographical space can lead to no good.

In short order, the pair succeeds in playing everyone off each other, and by the time the dust clears, there’s a tangled mess of busted relationships and exposed secrets left behind.

But in spite of all the ugly chaos, at the end of the day, family is still family, and "Margot" manages to conclude with a faint glimmer of something resembling guarded optimism.

While many maintain that there’s truth in comedy, writer-director Baumbach operates under the contention that there’s comedy in truth. No matter how horrible or painful life can get, he realizes there’s often an absurdist twinge of irony lurking in the sidelines.

Brilliantly assisting him in bringing it all to the forefront are Kidman and especially Leigh, who render brittle, hilarious yet moving performances.

Kidman is never better than when she plays darker types, such as in "To Die For" or "The Others," and in Margot she has found a character that gives her permission to let unapologetically loose while still retaining some of that trademark vulnerability.

Leigh, meanwhile, gives one of the best and certainly most intriguingly complex performances of her career as Pauline, a perennial lost soul who despite all the friction still idealizes her sister as a potential best friend.

Together, the two egg each other on to delicious heights, and the rest of the cast gives them the appropriate space while still turning in their own astute performances.

Black, while recruited for comic relief purposes, nevertheless puts his own unique spin on Baumbach’s dialogue, while Pais as Margot’s in-the-throes-of-puberty son gets that alienated awkwardness down effectively.

Also good are Ciaran Hinds as Margot’s writing partner and not-so-secret lover, Halley Feiffer as his Lolita-in-training daughter and John Turturro as Margot’s spurned husband.

Behind the scenes, director of photography Harris Savides lends the autumnal Eastern seaboard location a slightly grainy, home-movie feel, neatly signalling the less-than-idyllic events to come.

Cast:

Margot: Nicole Kidman

Pauline: Jennifer Jason Leigh

Claude: Zane Pais

Malcolm: Jack Black

Jim: John Turturro

Ingrid: Flora Cross

Dick: Ciaran Hinds

Director-screenwriter: Noah Baumbach; Producer: Scott Rudin; Director of photography: Harris Savides; Production designer: Anne Ross; Co-producer: M. Blair Breard; Costume designer: Ann Roth; Editor: Carol Littleton.

Reuters/Hollywood Reporter