After the Wedding

Julianne Moore and Michelle Williams are talented and versatile actresses, so it’s a shame that they’re stuck in this moody and highly improbable melodrama. After the Wedding begins with American expatriate Isabel (Williams) running an orphanage in the slums of India. Clad in a sari with a bindi on her forehead, Isabel serenely leads meditations, distributes meals, and comforts the needy, especially 8-year-old Jai (Vir Pachisia), who is obviously her favorite. Eager to raise money to care for the children, Isabel is summoned to New York for a promised multi-million dollar donation. There she warily meets her benefactor, entrepreneur/philanthropist Theresa (Moore), who is preoccupied with the upcoming weekend wedding of her daughter Grace (Abby Quinn) and immediately invites Isabel to attend. Arriving late to the extravagant ceremony at Theresa’s woodsy home on Long Island, Isabel is shocked when she spies Theresa’s sculptor husband Oscar (Billy Crudup) and he recognizes her. Ludicrous secrets and lies subsequently surface in this glossy-but-gauche film written and directed by Moore’s husband, Bart Freundlich—a remake tracing its antecedents back to Susanne Bier’s 2006 Danish-language drama of the same name. Optional. (S. Granger)