Monday 3 February 2014

August: Osage County

director: John Wells
year: 2013
with: Meryl Streep, Julia Roberts, Chris Cooper, Juliette Lewis, etc.



plot: A look at the lives of the strong-willed women of the Weston family, whose paths have diverged until a family crisis brings them back to the Oklahoma house they grew up in, and to the dysfunctional woman who raised them.

what I liked: The surely all can act...I was especially amazed by Julia Roberts as I haven´t been a huge fan of her so far.



what I didn´t like: This family cannot get more "fucked up" (I´m allowed to write this...it´s a quote anyway). It´s hard to watch at times and at the end nothing is resolved - they arrived and gathered together as wrecks, fight and leave, even more wrecked. The opposite of feel good movie.
Not sure why talents like Ewan McGregor and Benedict Cumberbatch have been casted - next to this overload of female power and aggression they simply disappear.

verdict: It is based on a play and still feels like one. This leaves room for some great and intense acting but makes the whole film slightly claustrophobic. After 120min you wana run away from this dysfunctional family as much as it´s members.
If your inner psychiatrist needs feeding and if you are a big fan of Streep and Roberts then go for it. The others might as well leave it...

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