Rating: 
Summary: Nothing ordinary about this film
Review: There are so many layers in this movie that while watching one should not blink. I watched it once again this weekend and it moved me once again.
A family dealing (each in their own way) with the boating accident and death of their teenage son. The younger son blaming himself,suicidal and going through therapy. A father who isn't sure if he is still in love with his wife. A mother who goes through the motions, immaculate, perfectly made up, dying inside. A mother who cannot bare to hug or take a picture with her living son.
I do hope Mary Tyler Moore received an academy award for this role, because she was flawless, absolutely brilliant as the unfeeling, cold, dispassionate mother.
"Can't you see she hates me," the son screams to his dad,(Donald Sutherland) "Can't you see she blames me for the accident."
The emotions and feelings and secrets are so deeply hidden that it reminded me of a pressure cooker getting ready to blow. The accident, the attempted suicide, the marriage, the words they cannot say. The entire family looks like an episode from "Father Knows Best" until the viewer gets a closer glimse into what's really happening behind closed doors. And what's inside will haunt you. A mother who cannot love her son, haunts you. A father who crys in the middle of the night because he can't imagine life without his wife, haunts you. A son who has scars on both wrists and a head full of guilt, haunts you. This movie is a five star***** It has all the ingredients that add up to perfection. A huge kiss for Robert Redford! XXX
Rating: 
Summary: Character of a family after a tragedy impacts their lives
Review: This 1980 film is about a family who has lost a son in a boating accident. The surviving son is played by Timothy Hutton who won a well-deserved Academy Award for this role. He's magnificent. My heart went out to him from the first moment he's on the screen. Donald Sutherland plays his father with compassion and understanding. Mary Tyler Moore is cast as the mother in a very unsympathetic role. She can't seem to love this second son of hers, and doesn't even seem to try. There is always a false smile on her face as she presents a picture of the perfect wife and mother to the world. There's a coldness inside that just can't be reached. She was so natural in this role that it seemed she is like this in real life. But I guess that is what good acting is all about. Judd Hirsh is cast as an understanding psychiatrist who helps the boy as well as the father. Robert Redford does an admirable job of directing this film. He brings out outstanding performances from all involved and makes sure that the cinematography is used to enhance rather than get in the way of the story. The film belongs to the screenwriter and the actors who get to show off their immense talents. I wish I liked the film more. I found it moved much too slowly for my taste. It is a deep character study and it just got deeper and deeper into the characters' unhappy lives. I found myself frustrated, bored and impatient. I just wanted to put my hands on Mary Tyler Moore's shoulders and shake her. I didn't want to watch another uncomfortable incident with the boy. And the father's grief at being thrust into the middle between his wife and his son was hard to watch. My personal tastes, however, do not detract from the fact that this is a good film and well deserved all the awards it received. I do recommend it. Just be prepared to be uncomfortable.
Rating:
Summary: almost a perfect DVD
Review: I say almost because of Paramount's ongoing STUPIDITY to not include extra features in their back titles. This movie is brilliant, and if you have never seen it before,(if that's possible), you will be shocked at Mary Tyler Moore's
mesmerizing portrayal.
This is not "Mary Richards" TRUST ME. Why i gave it 4 instead of 5 stars is because (as i typed before), Paramount's continuation of omitting extra features in their release of older titles.
Just think how even more wonderful this film would have been, if director Robert Redford would have added a commentary track.
It should have been the least he could have done, on a film that got him an Academey Award for "Best Director". 3 more Oscars went to this film including "Best Picture".
Don't miss out, get this DVD and watch a terrific film. One of the taglines from this film was..."Some Films You Watch...Others You Feel" no truer words were spoken.
Rating:
Summary: Extremely Moving Drama
Review: "Ordinary People" has got to be one of the most moving films I've seen in quite a while. I have to say, some of the issues and events depicted here struck uncomfortably close to home for me. This was actor Robert Redford's directorial debut, and it won the 1980 Oscar for Best Picture. It tells the story of an upper-class family living in a quiet country town. The family of three are trying to come to terms with the accidental death of their older son in a boating accident. The main focus of the film is on the guilt stricken younger son, Conrad, very well played by Timothy Hutton. Conrad has spent several months in a mental institution after attempting suicide. Now he must try to pick up the pieces and go back to school. Unfortunately, things aren't that easy. Conrad finds it difficult to fit in with his roudy and obnoxious friends, and many people are now avoiding him. Conrad's swim coach regards Conrad with a mixture of fascination and disgust. To make matters worse, his mother seems to hold Conrad responsible for his brother's death, causing a lot of tension at home. An emerging relationship with the girl at school seems to be the only bright spot in Conrad's life. Donald Sutherland is effective as Calvin, Conrad's well meaning father. Calvin wants to help Conrad, but doesn't seem to know exactly how. Calvin's a nice, essentially non-confrontational man who tries to act as the peacekeeper of the family. Mary Tyler Moore is also very good as Conrad's mother, Beth. On the surface Beth is your picture-perfect mother and wife. Yet there's something off, even selfish about Beth. As we learn, she openly preferred Conrad's older brother Buck who was better at everything. Now that Buck is gone, Beth allows her hostility towards Conrad to come to the surface. Besides blaming Conrad for Buck's death, she despises him for attempting suicide, which, as she sees it, ruined her reputation in the community as the perfect mother. Beth will never forgive Conrad for doing this to her, and Conrad's father doesn't want to face up to Beth's essentially cold nature. The somewhat weaker part of the movie for me was Conrad's sessions with Dr. Berger. Dr. Berger uses psychoanalysis to help Conrad deal with the root of his guilt. I'm not very big on psychoanalysis as I think much of it is outdated, based on the now debunked methods of Dr. Sigmund Freud. Nevertheless, while these scenes don't add much to the movie, neither do they detract. I've wondered a lot about why Beth is so hostile towards Conrad. Well, maybe it's because she senses, correctly, that Conrad sees past Beth's cheerful facade. Beth despises Conrad for seeing the selfishness to her character that she has so effectively disguised from others. The place the film is set is quite beautiful. This is the kind of suburban town we'd all like to live in, with beautiful houses and lots of trees and shrubbery. I liked the way the film wrapped up. It shows how some people can confront their difficulties and character flaws, while some people cannot. This seems quite true to me. I'd highly recommend this film for anyone who likes moving dramas.
Rating:
Summary: Not actually a movie
Review: this movie isn't actually a movie at all. it's not a story. it's a realistic portrayal of life as it's seen by many of the ordinary people in this world. not every one who watches this movie will enjoy it- in fact i don't believe it was meant to be enjoyed, it was meant to be lived. if you watch this movie as an outsider looking in you will never completely appreciate it. to truely understand this movie you must become a part of it- you can't simply watch it. and of course not everyone who watches it will be able to emmerse themselves in it as much as i know i did. it's for that reason that there is no gaurantee from me that you'll enjoy it. don't watch it simply assuming that you're watching just another movie- after all it's not actually a movie. it's far more than that. it's an experience.
Rating:
Summary: The Perfect Movie
Review: This Oscar winning drama is, perhaps, a perfect movie. The script, the direction, the cinematograhy, and most especially the acting are all exceptional. The story of a family attempting to survive the loss of a child. There has never been a better depiction of teenage depression. The therapy scenes run so true. Donald Sutherlin is outstanding and Mary Tyler Moore's performance is incredible. I have watched this movie more than 20 times and it gets better with each viewing. Redford has woven an intricate fabric and each viewing reveals a new insight. A perfect movie.
Rating: 
Summary: A little too ordinary for me.
Review: 'Ordinary People' is a story about a wealthy family of three who live in the suburbs. The title speaks perfectly because this film was a little to ordinary for me. So ordinary that after a while I began losing interest. The story is about a teenage boy who is struggling to recover from his brother's death. There are plenty of scenes of family struggle. Thank you Robert Redford, but if I want to see family members yelling at each other, I just have to listen to my parents. I don't need to watch a movie for that. The soundtrack is not too bad though.
Rating:
Summary: Behind the Closed Doors of Suburbia
Review: Actor Timothy Hutton is Conrad Jarrett, a High School teenager living in the well off Chicago suburbs. All is not well however. Hutton's brother was killed in a tragic boating accident. The older, fun loving 'Buck' was his mother's firstborn and favorite. Hutton, confused and feeling guilty at having survived tries to kill himself and is institutionalized. We enter the story as he returns home, spending uncomfortable days around High School and awkward moments with his mother. Donald Sutherland is excellent as the father who can't understand why his wife, played in a once in a lifetime role by Mary Tyler Moore, doesn't seem to love, or even like her own son. Judd Hirsch is well cast as the psychologist treating the often non-communicative Hutton. Something of a modern 'Splendor in the Grass'.
Rating: 
Summary: Very unconvincing
Review: The movie starts off vey well, but just shoots itself in the foot,
Rating:
Summary: The Only Movie That ever made me Cry
Review: Oridinary People is the only movie to make me cry ever and I am a girl it so real. This is one of the best movies on how America families look okay on the surface but are not really. I loved this movie. First, Judd Hirsht (Dr. Burger)was the best phychtrist played in a movie and Conrad (Hutton) does an excelent job on how someone has such a hard time expressing himself. Hirsht justs lets Conrad go at a certain pace and lets helps him see what is really bothering him. I find many people underrate Hirshts role. Donald Sutherland is spectacular and so is Mary Tyler Moore. The whole cast is brilliant using Canon in D minor touches you while you watch this film.
This film deals with family lose and the different ways people cope and how it tears families apart. Mary Tyler Moore character Beth refuses to forgive Conrad (Hutton)for the death of Buck (her favorite son) You can tell in this how she really does hate Conrad and wished she had Buck instead how cold that is it and the truth. People just do not want to face it and that is what this movie really brings forth. Sutherland character worries and cares he tries to mend the family he does "see" what is happening to the family but is tyring to figure out what to do about it. The only part that I did not like was when Conrad's best friend on the swim team starts to be mean to him and towards the end Conrad says it is too painful to be around him and his friend just tells him to get lost. Then at the same time it shows how different poeple just cannot handle the tragedy and instead of trying harder he just lets him go. The scene where it all comes out on what happened to Buck is the hardest part to watch. Again Dr. Berger is brillant! A must see movie. The whole main cast should of gotten Oscars. Still 20 years later it effects people it is timeless.
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