Rating: 
Summary: Funny,sad,intense,just like real life.A classic.
Review: I first saw "Terms of Endearment" in the theatre when it first came out at Christmas 1983 and thought it was an excellent picture. Then,saw it several years later on home video and I still think so. I even gave a copy of the video to my sister for a birthday present(along with some other of her favorite movies). A lot of the credit should go to James L. Brooks who was the writer and director.Mr. Brooks was a writer on "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" in the '70's and wrote the enjoyable movie "Starting Over" in 1979. Shirley MacLaine stars as Aurora and Debra Winger is her daughter Emma and the story is about their relationship over many years.The two leads both gave fabulous performances. Ms.MacLaine won the Academy Award for Best Actress(her one and only win) and Ms. Winger was nominated.Jack Nicholson gave a very funny,likable performance as the former astronaut who lives next door to Aurora. Nicholson won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for this role(a role that Burt Reynolds turned down due to a prior commitment.Reynolds regretted it later because the movie he turned the role down for turned out to be a flop).Actors John Lithgow and a then unknown Jeff Daniels also give good performances in supporting roles. However, the real kudos go to James L.Brooks who won the Academy Award for Best Screenplay Adaptation(from the novel by Larry McMurtry)and for Best Director,very impressive since this was his directorial debut.And,it also won Best Picture of the year.The story has many funny moments,sad moments,and intense moments,just like in real life.Mr.Brooks went on to write and direct "Broadcast News" in 1987 and "As Good As It Gets" in 1997 which were both very good pictures also.There was a sequel to "Terms of Endearment" some 16 years later in 1996 called "The Evening Star" with Ms.MacLaine and Mr. Nicholson but with a different writer and director."The Evening Star" was no classic but "Terms of Endearment" truly is.
Rating:
Summary: A True American Classic
Review: Terms Of Endearment is, funny, sad, and heartbreaking. It's the story of a relationship of a mother and daughter that goes through ups and downs during the course of a few years. One of the things that makes this movie work is how real it is. This is real life. There's nothing more real than that. This can be anybody's mother and daughter. It could be you. Shirley MacLaine gives one of cinema's most memorable and brilliant portrayols as Aurora Greenway, who is one of movieland's greatest characters. She is so perfect, she deserved ten more Oscars just for the hell of it. Debra Winger, as the daughter, is good as well. She really brings her character to life. And there's Jack Nicholson. Nobody is better than Jack. His performance, like Shirley's, is also one of Hollywood's best classics. It's a role where Jack gets to shine brighter than ever. There are many classic scenes and lines in this film. That doesn't happen often. The remaining cast is brilliant: Jeff Daniels, John Lithgow, and Danny DeVito. What an electrifying cast. Watch this movie. And, oh, by the way, grab a hankie. A film classic.
Rating:
Summary: Tear-jerker
Review: Shirley MacLaine and Debra Winger play mother and daughter who are alternately at love and war with each other as they go on the roller-coaster of life. On a routine visit to the pediatrician for one of her sons, Winger's doc is more interested in her swollen glands than he is in her son's ear ache - and the next thing we know, Winger's diagnosed with a terminal illness. The pathos is well played, and I challenge anyone to emerge dry-eyed from the scene in which she says good-bye to her sons, esp to the one who is so angry and uncommunicative.
Everyone comes thru in the end, including the lumpish ex-husband, and Jack Nicholson, playing a free-spirited astronaut who is MacLaine's love interest, deservedly won an Oscar for this performance.
Excellent book by McMurtry; great movie by James L. Brooks.
Rating: 
Summary: COMING TO TERMS WITH PARAMOUNT DVD!
Review: By all accounts Debra Winger wasn't an easy actress to tolerate, either on or off the set. But before she disappeared from the Hollywood scene she proved that she was, among other things, one hell of a good actress. Here she plays Emma, a newlywed, stricken with cancer and the antics of a philandering husband (Jeff Daniels). But the real shine to this film comes from Shirley MaClaine as Emma's mom, Aurora Greenwood. MacClaine is so on pitch in this movie, as both the grieving, concerned and manipulative mother that it's no wonder she took home the Oscar for this performance. Also stars Jack Nicholson, who took home the Oscar and Danny Devito in a cameo.
Paramount Home Video has issued this movie in anamorphic widescreen. Colors are well balanced, though details get lost in darker scenes. The characteristic of the picture, overall, is one of dated 80's quality with film grain, grit and some smearing of colors and fading of fine details. Still, it's free of pixelization, edge enhancement and shimmering artifacts. The sound is flat but nicely restored. NO EXTRAS! Hey Paramount - you really need to do justice to the film's that made you a household name. This film is but one reason why we love Paramount movies. Do something special to mark the occasion. Especially for an Academy Award Winning Best Picture!
*Aside - this film received a follow-up installment "The Evening Star" nearly a decade later that is really disappointing and totally pointless. It also replaced a lot of the cast members with other actors playing the same role, hoping against hope that no one would notice the switch. Oops! -we did! BOTTOM LINE: GREAT MOVIE! GOOD BUY! SOME WORK LEFT TO BE DONE OVER AT THE 'MOUTAIN'!
Rating:
Summary: Come to Terms!
Review: Another film that made me cry! If you've read my reviews on KRAMER VS. KRAMER and RAIN MAN, then you know my story. But, yes, it's happened again! Another Best Picture Oscar-winner has allowed me to shed my tears freely and openly. Based on the novel by Larry McMurtry (Lonesome Dove, The Last Picture Show), TERMS OF ENDEARMENT is a "family" film that deals with a 30-year relationship between a flighty mother and her headstrong daughter, played to perfection by Shirley MacLaine as Aurora Greenway, and Debra Winger as her daughter Emma Horton. The film begins by establishing the relatonship between the neurotic Aurora with her young daughter. It makes you laugh and it makes you cry! Either way, the film deserves its kudos. Created by future SIMPSONS producer James L. Brooks, we see the emotional turmoil that both Aurora and Emma face in their love lives. The cast consists of: Jack Nicholson, as Aurora's zany cosmonaut boyfriend Garrett Breedlove (a role originally intended for Burt Reynolds [YIKES!]), Jeff Daniels as Emma's philandering husband Flap Horton, John Lithgow as Emma's lover Sam Burns, and Danny DeVito, in a delightful cameo, as Vernon Dahlart. After a while, though, the film does tend to drift a bit. You have to be patient considering that the final climax, in which Emma loses her fight with cancer, is the blow that sent me (and possibly millions of other viewers) into tears. Watch Aurora's face; watch Emma's, and you'll know exactly what they're saying without them even saying a word. Simply devastating! Winner of 5 Academy Awards including: three for director Brooks for Best Picture (as producer), Best Director, and Best Adapted Screenplay; Best Actress - Shirley MacLaine (also nominated against costar Debra Winger); and Best Supporting Actor - Jack Nicholson (nominated against costar John Lithgow). All in all, in a year (1983) where TERMS was up against THE RIGHT STUFF, THE BIG CHILL, THE DRESSER, SILKWOOD, EDUCATING RITA, and FANNY AND ALEXANDER, TERMS OF ENDEARMENT proved that even a "soap opera" film can be the best! So true.
Rating:
Summary: On Their Own Terms
Review: 1983's Terms Of Endearment is based on a novel by Larry McMurtry, the man who also wrote Lonesome Dove and The Last Picture Show. Much like most of Mr. McMurtry's stories, the film takes place in Texas. It centers around the tumultuous relationship between Aurora & Emma Greenway, who are mother and daughter. Aurora is played with a spitfire essence by Shirley MacLaine and Emma is played by Debra Winger. Aurora is a bit overprotective of Emma and this leads to the relationship strains especially when Emma marries Flap Horton (Jeff Daniels). The two drift apart and Aurora starts up an unusual romance with her ex-astronaut next door neighbor, Garrett Breedlove (Jack Nicholson). The scenes between Aurora and Garrett are the best in the film and both Ms. MacLaine and Mr. Nicholson are brilliant in them. The movie teeters on the brink of sappiness at the end as it digresses into a complete tear-jerker as Emma develops a terminal illness. But despite that, director James L. Brooks has crafted an enjoyable film that will make you both laugh and cry. The film swept the 1983 Oscars as it won Best Picture, Best Director & Screenplay for Mr. Brooks, Ms. MacLaine beat out Ms. Winger for Best Actress and Mr. Nicholson took home his second Oscar and first in the Best Supporting Actor category.
Rating:
Summary: Somewhat cold, but still wonderful.
Review: I saw this movie after I had seen Steel Magnolias, and to be honest it did not impress me as much as Steel Magnolias did. They are both classics in the film world, but I found Magnolias better and more heartwarming. Shirley Maclaine did a wonderful job acting in this film as the troubled mother of a sickly daughter. The movie comes together in the end but at some points the movie lacked that sense of heart and home that Steel Magnolias had. See it and make the judgment for yourself. I do reccomend it.
Rating:
Summary: As a Male, I Dig This Movie
Review: This film is categorized as a chick flick...but hey it made me cry too. I was a kid when I saw this film. My cat had just died, and guess what her name was? ...EMMA!!!!
Well when Emma died in the film I almost lost it..
Shirley MacLaine said working with Debra Winger was hard to do as Debra was very gassy...
Rating:
Summary: On my top 10 list of all time
Review: When we're channel surfing and this movie is on, my husband just hands over the remote b/c he KNOWS I cannot pass up watching it for the 200th time. It reels me right in. Even though I KNOW I am going to be blubbering and sobbing at the end. Even though I KNOW I am going to sit there and WISH I could somehow change the course of the movie... that somehow, this time, things will work out differently... Just a materpiece of film making in the true sense of the word. No special effects, no plot twists. Just good old characterization and human interaction. EXCELLENT.
Rating:
Summary: Very good, but predictable in a way.
Review: This movie was a very good movie. I think it fully deserved its Oscar. The only thing that bothered me was how predictable the ending was. For me, Jack Nicholson was the highlight of the movie. He really was Shirley MacLaine's (character's) answer to her prayer I do recommend this movie, mostly to women. It is a "tear-jerker" i guess (thats the category my local Blockbuster put it in,, but it wasnt for me) and men don't seem to interested in those type of movies. So if you need a good cry, or if you wanna watch some good acting, check out "Terms of Endearment". ~Candace
Seattle Reviewer...
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