August: Osage County (B+ or 3/4 stars)
Want to see Meryl Streep & Julia Roberts throw punches as monstrous mother & haggard daughter? Well, you get your chance with 'August: Osage County' (directed by John Wells, and based on a Pulitzer Prize/Tony Award-winning play), which focuses on 3 generations of a dysfunctional Oklahoma family. In the opening scene, Beverly Weston (Sam Shepard), a poet/former teacher, is interviewing Johnna (Misty Upham), a Native American woman; he wants her to cook, clean & care for his ailing wife. "(she) takes pills and I drink. That's the bargain we've struck". In the sweltering 100 degree heat of August, Violet (Meryl Streep), the pill-popping, eccentric matriarch of the Weston clan, comes into her husband's office to ridicule Johnna.
Violet is an unhappy woman who is suffering mouth cancer & becomes further frazzled when her husband ups & disappears. The couple's 3 daughters begrudgingly swoop-in to the homestead to help their mother ... but end up staying for a funeral (their long-suffering father decided to take his own life). The daughters have been damaged by their parents' tension-filled 40+ year marriage. Barbara (Julia Roberts), the oldest daughter, arrives from Colorado with her estranged husband (Ewan McGregor) & their dark-cloud-of-a-teen daughter, Jean (Abigail Breslin). Returning to her childhood home brings out the combative behaviors & repressed emotions she feels towards her mother. She's the only one who can go toe-to-toe with Violet when she starts judging/tearing into those closest to her.
Ivy (Julianne Nicholson) is the only daughter who has 'tried' to take care of her mom but in return has only ever been criticized for her appearance. Eventually, this shy daughter's secret love affair makes way for an even bigger revelation about her past. And the youngest daughter, Karen (Juliette Lewis), is a flighty free spirit who is now engaged to smarmy, womanizing Steve (Dermot Mulroney). Also in for the funeral are Mattie Fae (Margo Martindale), Violet's sister who has been with her through thick & thin, her husband Charles (Chris Cooper), & their milquetoast son (Benedict Cumberbatch). Mattie Fae & Charles' marriage has been unraveling due to her unrelenting criticism/humiliation of their son. Spilled secrets, plate-smashing revelations, shame-inducing criticisms, & fiery arguments ensue. i.e., Violet eviscerates her relatives one by one at the dinner table; culminating is some of the clan eating the carpet, so to speak.
A major theme in 'A:OC' is shame. Violet, abused & criticized in her youth, gets through life by humiliating those nearest & dearest to her. Charles, exasperated with his wife, humiliates Jean about her vegetarianism. And because Mattie Fae harbors an awful secret, she 'gets by' by shaming her son for not being a man's man. Shame dehumanizes other people. Shaming someone leaves an indelible scar on the soul that is less likely to heal over time. Another obvious theme here is that it is very difficult for families such as these to 'break the cycle', so to speak. Guilt can be quite the family trap.
I was highly entertained by the performances here. That said, I wasn't wildly impressed with the directorial decisions or visual flair; it relies heavily on farmland/sunset shots to open up the proceedings. The music's weepy, sensitive tone didn't help, either. Thankfully, the story has an inherent bite & a darkly comedic edge that prevents this feel-bad drama from being too heavy. Bad things happen to people. But there are humorous moments, for sure.
So yeah, direction: so-so. But 'August ...' is ALL about the acting. Cooper, Martindale, Nicholson, et al give beautifully lived-in performances. But tops is Meryl as the cancerous matriarch hell bent on being the last Weston standing. Streep expresses this character's pent-up rage, vicious attacks, drugged-out ramblings, & self-pity monologues to perfection. It's another incredible performance in a long line of such for Streep. She's scary, corrosive, volcanic. And yet, she's also effective in the smaller moments. i.e., a story she tells about her mother. And I found her delusional singing/dancing to the record player scenes to be quietly devastating - mostly because I have a mentally ill family member who has done and DOES exactly that to escape/cope with anxiety & overwhelming tense situations.
Julia Roberts is also great as Barbara, a middle-aged woman whose marriage is in ruin & who can't control her hellcat mother. Throughout the film, Barbara is under attack from her sisters, mother, & even her daughter. She resists debasing herself to her mother's vicious level, but can't help but fighting back when the pot spills over. She loves her mother. She knows that her mother has had a rough life. But she knows that if she remains at that house, she will become her mother. When is enough ENOUGH? Knowing that her mother almost can't help it, will she continue to coddle her? Help her? Desert her? We know the answer by the films' end.
Violet is an unhappy woman who is suffering mouth cancer & becomes further frazzled when her husband ups & disappears. The couple's 3 daughters begrudgingly swoop-in to the homestead to help their mother ... but end up staying for a funeral (their long-suffering father decided to take his own life). The daughters have been damaged by their parents' tension-filled 40+ year marriage. Barbara (Julia Roberts), the oldest daughter, arrives from Colorado with her estranged husband (Ewan McGregor) & their dark-cloud-of-a-teen daughter, Jean (Abigail Breslin). Returning to her childhood home brings out the combative behaviors & repressed emotions she feels towards her mother. She's the only one who can go toe-to-toe with Violet when she starts judging/tearing into those closest to her.
Ivy (Julianne Nicholson) is the only daughter who has 'tried' to take care of her mom but in return has only ever been criticized for her appearance. Eventually, this shy daughter's secret love affair makes way for an even bigger revelation about her past. And the youngest daughter, Karen (Juliette Lewis), is a flighty free spirit who is now engaged to smarmy, womanizing Steve (Dermot Mulroney). Also in for the funeral are Mattie Fae (Margo Martindale), Violet's sister who has been with her through thick & thin, her husband Charles (Chris Cooper), & their milquetoast son (Benedict Cumberbatch). Mattie Fae & Charles' marriage has been unraveling due to her unrelenting criticism/humiliation of their son. Spilled secrets, plate-smashing revelations, shame-inducing criticisms, & fiery arguments ensue. i.e., Violet eviscerates her relatives one by one at the dinner table; culminating is some of the clan eating the carpet, so to speak.
A major theme in 'A:OC' is shame. Violet, abused & criticized in her youth, gets through life by humiliating those nearest & dearest to her. Charles, exasperated with his wife, humiliates Jean about her vegetarianism. And because Mattie Fae harbors an awful secret, she 'gets by' by shaming her son for not being a man's man. Shame dehumanizes other people. Shaming someone leaves an indelible scar on the soul that is less likely to heal over time. Another obvious theme here is that it is very difficult for families such as these to 'break the cycle', so to speak. Guilt can be quite the family trap.
I was highly entertained by the performances here. That said, I wasn't wildly impressed with the directorial decisions or visual flair; it relies heavily on farmland/sunset shots to open up the proceedings. The music's weepy, sensitive tone didn't help, either. Thankfully, the story has an inherent bite & a darkly comedic edge that prevents this feel-bad drama from being too heavy. Bad things happen to people. But there are humorous moments, for sure.
So yeah, direction: so-so. But 'August ...' is ALL about the acting. Cooper, Martindale, Nicholson, et al give beautifully lived-in performances. But tops is Meryl as the cancerous matriarch hell bent on being the last Weston standing. Streep expresses this character's pent-up rage, vicious attacks, drugged-out ramblings, & self-pity monologues to perfection. It's another incredible performance in a long line of such for Streep. She's scary, corrosive, volcanic. And yet, she's also effective in the smaller moments. i.e., a story she tells about her mother. And I found her delusional singing/dancing to the record player scenes to be quietly devastating - mostly because I have a mentally ill family member who has done and DOES exactly that to escape/cope with anxiety & overwhelming tense situations.
Julia Roberts is also great as Barbara, a middle-aged woman whose marriage is in ruin & who can't control her hellcat mother. Throughout the film, Barbara is under attack from her sisters, mother, & even her daughter. She resists debasing herself to her mother's vicious level, but can't help but fighting back when the pot spills over. She loves her mother. She knows that her mother has had a rough life. But she knows that if she remains at that house, she will become her mother. When is enough ENOUGH? Knowing that her mother almost can't help it, will she continue to coddle her? Help her? Desert her? We know the answer by the films' end.