That is because this Jonathan Demme-directed character-driven comedy generated $32,597 per theater on nine screens last weekend, which is the fifth-best PTA of 2008. The IMAX-only Magnificent Desolation scored a $51,592 PTA Sept. 26-28 and Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus Best of Both Worlds in 3D delivered a sensational $45,561 on its meteoric first weekend back in February. Among non-IMAX, non-3D theatrical releases this year, only Picturehouse's limited start for Kit Kittredge: An American Girl ($44,059) and the Warner Bros. megahit The Dark Knight ($36,238) managed stronger opening weekend PTA's than Rachel Getting Married.

Jenny Lumet is of royal film pedigree. Her father Sidney is a five-time Academy Award-nominated screenwriter and director, with a film resume that includes Network, The Verdict, Dog Day Afternoon, 12 Angry Men, Running on Empty, Serpico and Prince of the City. Instead of viewing her father's success as a tough act to follow, she says that she is grateful because "there are probably three screenwriters on my street who have written great pieces. I think it would be a tough business to get into without any connection at all. I'm the luckiest chick on the planet to have gotten where I am."

With an almost-certain-to-be-Oscar-nominated performance from Anne Hathaway, Rachel Getting Married tells the uncomfortable but funny story of a young woman who has spent a decade in and out of rehab, and the turmoil she causes when she returns home for her sister's wedding. Like her father's best work, all of the action in Rachel flows from character, but Lumet points out that her father's movies are different "because everybody's a cop or a lawyer." Still she admits that some of his "stuff may have seeped in through osmosis."

No company in the business is better with a precise platform release than Sony Classics, so this gem is in very good hands. High end commercial and arthouses will get more crowded in coming weeks with the arrival of Mike Leigh's Happy-Go-Lucky (Miramax), Fox Searchlight's The Secret Life of Bees and Barry Levinson's What Just Happened? (Magnolia), but Rachel Getting Married will ride excellent reviews and positive word-of-mouth to terrific Per Theater Averages in weeks to come, and awards season could push this film to the $9 million-$12 million domestic range.

Meanwhile, Lumet has her hands full with a 13-year-old son, a five-month-old baby and a hit movie. She'd love to see her first produced screenplay on the big screen with a paying audience, but she's busy: "I have to yank my kid off Facebook and wipe my baby's mouth." Also, she adds, "It's hard to find a sitter."