Margot at the Wedding is a rambunctious follow-up to writer and director Noah Baumbach's Academy Award-nominated The Squid and the Whale, which explored family dynamics in a fresh and funny cinematic style. In Margot at the Wedding, the sibling bond is revealed to be an important one that requires lots of hard work and patient love.

Pauline (Jennifer Jason Lee) wants to be her sister's best friend but the baggage of past recriminations, disappointments, and jealousy get in the way. Margot (Nicole Kidman) is a walking time bomb of anger and verbal sniping. She is a vulnerable person who can't seem to trust those closest to her. Baumbach has created twisted sisters who push each other's buttons yet elicit our sympathy and engender our emotional responses as they desperately try to connect with each other.

This Newmarket Shooting Script book includes an exclusive introduction by biographer Patricia Bosworth, 30 color photographs, cast and crew credits and the complete shooting script. In a Q and A, writer and director Noah Baumbach makes the following point:

"The characters in Margot are all going through transitions that are scary and new: Claude is going through adolescence, Margot is leaving her husband, Pauline and Malcolm are getting married — all of these things can make you feel out of control. Some things you choose and others happen to you."

The next time you watch Margot at the Wedding be sure to keep an eye out for this important theme: it adds a richness to the story and allows us to further empathize with the burdens of each of the characters.