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Friday, January 17, 2014
My Travels And A Little Bit of This And That: Review of August:Osage County
My Travels And A Little Bit of This And That: Review of August:Osage County: With the death of their father (suicide) two Weston girls, Barbara (Julia Roberts) and Karen (Juliette Lewis) are forced to reunite with the...
Review of August:Osage County
With the death of their father (suicide) two Weston girls, Barbara (Julia Roberts) and Karen (Juliette Lewis) are forced to reunite with their mother Violet (Meryl Streep) and the youngest sister Ivy (Julianne Nicholson) as well as other members of the extended family. Written by the playwright Tracy Letts who also adapted it for the screen the subject matter itself, dysfunctional family forced to confront certain ugly truths, is rather banal, it's the competent execution by director John Wells and the stellar acting by a dream cast which lifts it above, but only just slightly, the shamelessly lurid and melodramatic.
It's always difficult bringing a play to the screen and Wells is not entirely successful in erasing a certain "stacticity" typical of such endeavors. Yet there is fluidity here too and a conscious attempt to get away from the stagy aspects by allowing the camera a little more room to roam and filming some scenes outdoors to make full use of the glorious Oklahoma sunlight. The matriarch Violet is a thoroughly unpleasant character full of bitter truths which she dishes unconditionally. She is a truth advocate even if it stings although she is less than truthful about her own failings which are many. Diagnosed with mouth cancer, yes one of the salient plot ironies, with a pale regrowth of hair, wielding a never ending cigarette like a weapon, she is played with venomous relish by Meryl Streep. This is probably one of Streep's strongest performance since The Iron Lady which I refused to see because of my personal aversion to Margaret Thatcher. I did however see the previews of that film and Streep had Thatcher down pat. This is a meatier role in some respect since there is no point of reference to another. She is not impersonating but creating wholesale and the ultimate creation is absolutely terrifying achieving at times "Medeaesque" proportions. Although Violet doesn't kill her youngs she maims them horribly and takes undisguised pleasure in doing so. It's a miracle her husband survived this long. The portrait is not entirely without nuance, one scene in particular involving cowboy boots and the young Violet, brings to light a childhood which was less than pastoral. In Violet's own words her mother was an evil woman which might explain why she became just as rotten.
Besides Streep's unforgettable performance the real revelation here is Julia Roberts as the eldest daughter Barbara. She is ferociously unforgiving, strong, bitter, newly separated from still tag along husband Bill (Ewan McGregor) mistrustful and fearful of Violet yet prepared to impose her will on her increasingly pill addled mother. One line in particular stands out after a violent confrontation which has them both on the floor, Barbara yells out: "You just don't get it: I'M IN CHARGE NOW." This is one of the few times where we see Violet cower and whimper.
This film is definitely the Streep/Roberts show. Juliette Lewis as Karen delivers the weakest performance while Julianne Nicholson is haunting as Ivy. The rest of the cast is uniformly good although the male actors are mostly wasted in secondary roles particularly Benedict Cumberbatch and Dermot Mulroney. I suppose it's always interesting for actors to sign on to a prestige project like this one with such powerhouse actresses attached, no blame to be assigned here. In fact it's been a great year for actresses in general I hope this ushers in not just a trend but a conscious effort to write great roles for actresses of all ages.
I give August: Osage County a modest endorsement, it didn't have the WOW factor that a film like 13 Years a Slave had but it's definitely worth more than a passing look.
It's always difficult bringing a play to the screen and Wells is not entirely successful in erasing a certain "stacticity" typical of such endeavors. Yet there is fluidity here too and a conscious attempt to get away from the stagy aspects by allowing the camera a little more room to roam and filming some scenes outdoors to make full use of the glorious Oklahoma sunlight. The matriarch Violet is a thoroughly unpleasant character full of bitter truths which she dishes unconditionally. She is a truth advocate even if it stings although she is less than truthful about her own failings which are many. Diagnosed with mouth cancer, yes one of the salient plot ironies, with a pale regrowth of hair, wielding a never ending cigarette like a weapon, she is played with venomous relish by Meryl Streep. This is probably one of Streep's strongest performance since The Iron Lady which I refused to see because of my personal aversion to Margaret Thatcher. I did however see the previews of that film and Streep had Thatcher down pat. This is a meatier role in some respect since there is no point of reference to another. She is not impersonating but creating wholesale and the ultimate creation is absolutely terrifying achieving at times "Medeaesque" proportions. Although Violet doesn't kill her youngs she maims them horribly and takes undisguised pleasure in doing so. It's a miracle her husband survived this long. The portrait is not entirely without nuance, one scene in particular involving cowboy boots and the young Violet, brings to light a childhood which was less than pastoral. In Violet's own words her mother was an evil woman which might explain why she became just as rotten.
Besides Streep's unforgettable performance the real revelation here is Julia Roberts as the eldest daughter Barbara. She is ferociously unforgiving, strong, bitter, newly separated from still tag along husband Bill (Ewan McGregor) mistrustful and fearful of Violet yet prepared to impose her will on her increasingly pill addled mother. One line in particular stands out after a violent confrontation which has them both on the floor, Barbara yells out: "You just don't get it: I'M IN CHARGE NOW." This is one of the few times where we see Violet cower and whimper.
This film is definitely the Streep/Roberts show. Juliette Lewis as Karen delivers the weakest performance while Julianne Nicholson is haunting as Ivy. The rest of the cast is uniformly good although the male actors are mostly wasted in secondary roles particularly Benedict Cumberbatch and Dermot Mulroney. I suppose it's always interesting for actors to sign on to a prestige project like this one with such powerhouse actresses attached, no blame to be assigned here. In fact it's been a great year for actresses in general I hope this ushers in not just a trend but a conscious effort to write great roles for actresses of all ages.
I give August: Osage County a modest endorsement, it didn't have the WOW factor that a film like 13 Years a Slave had but it's definitely worth more than a passing look.
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