.....with my dear wife and she and I both enjoyed and appreciated it.
The Link
Top-notch acting, both ensemble and individual, in an excellent screen play; however, this certainly isn't a movie for everyone.
It's very moody and quite tragic, ramping up to completely bombastic and finally down to emotionally draining (at least for me) with family crises, reunion, dysfunction, expected plot twists, unexpected plot twists, shocking revelations and a whole bunch of dark humor all playing a part.
I had never even heard of this Pulitzer Prize winning dramedy by writer Tracy Letts, who adapted his stage play into this screenplay, but for me the movie really delivered.
Letts also wrote movie screenplays for "Bug" which starred Ashley Judd and "Magic Mike" with Matthew McConaughey, adapted from his stage plays.
The Link
The Link
I saw both of those lesser flicks and they also aren't films for everybody.
Fair warning.
"August: Osage County," the movie, was a bit stagy at times, but for me only in a good way.
Because I thought any occasional feel of filmed staginess only increased the story's focus.
Like at that awkward family dinner from Hell or during the scene remembering a desired Christmas present, as told in the yard around the swing.
I read Meryl Streep's towering characterization of the matriarch, Violet Weston, very correctly described as her being Medea-of-the-Midwest and I thought Julia Roberts usually held her own against that lady who made Sophie's choice in probably pretty woman's meatiest role ever.
IMHO, this movie is worth seeing, even if you only want to observe all the good acting.
However, I found it had much more to offer.
Extremely well-paced and nicely crafted for the big screen, featuring a hot, stark, dusty Oklahoma landscape with subdued, summertime colors which almost reminded me of the B&W film making in John Ford's "The Grapes of Wrath."
This flick showed the event planning problems in "Steel Magnolias" to be even more trivial than they actually were and, IMO, made the famed Shakespearean drama about unfortunate King Lear and his three daughters almost seem small in comparison.
The compelling, personal focus of this powerful film, indeed for me, made epic cinematic dramas like "Giant" and "Gone with the Wind" compare as being less tragic than they doubtless were to any actual folks who were really there in those times and places.
Moving and even upsetting, in the manner of "Precious" or "The Exorcist," should you care to go.
My wife says that it was "pretty unbelievable" to her (partly just because of the long sleeves, coats and sweaters they wore in the oppressive heat) and I'm glad she has that feeling of disbelief to comfort her.
Because I thought the whole story was completely believable and that dark family secrets in real life can be truly scary and more dangerous, as in "Leaving Las Vegas" or "Requiem for a Dream," than are things only imagined, thus far, in flicks like "World War Z," "The Human Centipede" or "I Spit on Your Grave."
JMO.
I thought this storyline rang very, very true.
Lots of F bombs, very realistically delivered.
Recommended as being worthwhile for anyone who wants to go after reading this favorable review.
Has anybody seen it?
The Link
Top-notch acting, both ensemble and individual, in an excellent screen play; however, this certainly isn't a movie for everyone.
It's very moody and quite tragic, ramping up to completely bombastic and finally down to emotionally draining (at least for me) with family crises, reunion, dysfunction, expected plot twists, unexpected plot twists, shocking revelations and a whole bunch of dark humor all playing a part.
I had never even heard of this Pulitzer Prize winning dramedy by writer Tracy Letts, who adapted his stage play into this screenplay, but for me the movie really delivered.
Letts also wrote movie screenplays for "Bug" which starred Ashley Judd and "Magic Mike" with Matthew McConaughey, adapted from his stage plays.
The Link
The Link
I saw both of those lesser flicks and they also aren't films for everybody.
Fair warning.
"August: Osage County," the movie, was a bit stagy at times, but for me only in a good way.
Because I thought any occasional feel of filmed staginess only increased the story's focus.
Like at that awkward family dinner from Hell or during the scene remembering a desired Christmas present, as told in the yard around the swing.
I read Meryl Streep's towering characterization of the matriarch, Violet Weston, very correctly described as her being Medea-of-the-Midwest and I thought Julia Roberts usually held her own against that lady who made Sophie's choice in probably pretty woman's meatiest role ever.
IMHO, this movie is worth seeing, even if you only want to observe all the good acting.
However, I found it had much more to offer.
Extremely well-paced and nicely crafted for the big screen, featuring a hot, stark, dusty Oklahoma landscape with subdued, summertime colors which almost reminded me of the B&W film making in John Ford's "The Grapes of Wrath."
This flick showed the event planning problems in "Steel Magnolias" to be even more trivial than they actually were and, IMO, made the famed Shakespearean drama about unfortunate King Lear and his three daughters almost seem small in comparison.
The compelling, personal focus of this powerful film, indeed for me, made epic cinematic dramas like "Giant" and "Gone with the Wind" compare as being less tragic than they doubtless were to any actual folks who were really there in those times and places.
Moving and even upsetting, in the manner of "Precious" or "The Exorcist," should you care to go.
My wife says that it was "pretty unbelievable" to her (partly just because of the long sleeves, coats and sweaters they wore in the oppressive heat) and I'm glad she has that feeling of disbelief to comfort her.
Because I thought the whole story was completely believable and that dark family secrets in real life can be truly scary and more dangerous, as in "Leaving Las Vegas" or "Requiem for a Dream," than are things only imagined, thus far, in flicks like "World War Z," "The Human Centipede" or "I Spit on Your Grave."
JMO.
I thought this storyline rang very, very true.
Lots of F bombs, very realistically delivered.
Recommended as being worthwhile for anyone who wants to go after reading this favorable review.
Has anybody seen it?
