Rating: 
Summary: Robert Redford's best effort at filmmaking
Review: One of the many virtues of this fine film is the brilliant casting of Mary Tyler Moore against type. It's her most effective role. But all actors in this film do justice to the fine script, photography and direction. Basically it tells the story of the devastating effects loss can have on what to all appearances is a model middle class American family. Ms Moore's meticulous dedication to her house duties, her obsession about place settings at dinner for example, reminds one of the mother in the film THE DAY AFTER who goes upstairs to make the bed when she realises the world is coming to an end -literally. It's a powerful moment, because the viewer is reminded of mothers as the givers, the nurturers, the builders of family, the ones who seem at the centre of civilised life. Thus the tragedy in ORDINARY PEOPLE to me turns very much on Ms Moore's role as the mother. Because she cannot come to terms with loss, her falling, her failures - loving too much perhaps, caring too much for one son over the other - is the tragedy wrought on the family unit. Well worth viewing.
Rating:
Summary: Narcissistic Mother
Review: This is an excellent depiction of the narcsistic parent. The narcissus tends to externalize or project a split of good and bad onto their children. By consequence, there tends to be holy cows and at least one scapegoat. Althought their charm has deceptive allure, the narcissus is incapable of genuine intimacy. Others in their environment serve as mirrors that reflect the narsissus's image. The narcissus is stuck in this image and relates autoerotically to the children. The children have to strugle to disentangle themselves from the parents toxic projections which either has overinflated or undrinflated them. "Ordinary People" is vital in bringing an intuitive grasp to the narcissistic family and is relevant in our consumerist image-oriented culture. Excellent film!
Rating:
Summary: What Best Pictures are all about
Review: I am appalled that a few close-minded reviewers have given this such a low rating. I don't even know where to begin when discussing this film. Not only was it one of the most important films of the 1980s, but its influence can be seen in countless films, such as Good Will Hunting and American Beauty. Robert Redford proved his worth as a director by mixing quick-paced editing with ingenious long takes and master shots. His Oscar more than deserves its place on its mantle. As for Redford's goal of bringing out the dark side of Mary Tyler Moore -- all I can is WOW! I admire Sissy Spacek, but MTM should have walked home with the Oscar in 1980. And then there's Donald Sutherland, whose brief scene with Judd Hirsch is a true example of how method actors use such detailed nuances and the smallest of movements to bring a character to life. This is a magnificent film that brought victory to "small" films and that has stood the test of time for 20 years.
Rating: 
Summary: I thought it was going to be better
Review: When my aunt told me about this movie, it sounded pretty good. So we waited for a long time until it came to our video store. I was the first to watch it and I didn`t even think it was as good as my aunt said it would be.
Rating:
Summary: "AND THE OSCAR GOES TO..."
Review: I have a quest to see all the movies that have won the Oscar for BEST PICTURE that I can find. Ordinary People won in 1980. I just saw this movie for the first time, and it blew me away! Between the perfect and wonderful screenplay, to the awesome acting and beautiful scenery -- This film should have won all the OSCARS for acting. Was Mary Tyler Moore even nominated? She was perfectly callous, cold, and unfeeling as Beth. Her performance was so incredible. Donald Sutherland was also excellent as the father who really wants to see his family kept together, and try to be happy again after losing a loved one. Timothy Hutton was definetly deservant of the Oscar -- but it should have been for Best Actor.... Juddd Hirsch was also brilliant as the psychiatrist that Conrad sees. All the acting, even the minor roles portrayed by DInah Manoff and Elizabeth McGovern is great to watch. I don't think that Oscar is the most important element in the film, but it totally deserves the praise. It was a beatifully filmed movie about a dysfunctional family..sounds like something that came out recently? American Beauty is this year's Ordinary People.. Granted, the characters in Ordinary People have different kinds of problems. If you want to see a powerful drama, with great acting, this is the film to watch. Oh, and don't forget the kleenex...cuz it jerks those tears right out of you.
Rating: 
Summary: I don't get it!
Review: I rented this because I am trying to meet my goal of seeing all the Best Picture winning films. I sat watching it waiting for something to happen! What was it about? What was the point? Who cares? Why the depressing story of a dysfunctional family, trying to get over the death of their son is entertainment, I'll never know. I didn't think that Mary Tyler Moore did an overly good job, nor did Donald Sutherland. Judd Hirsch did an excellent job, but he was the only one who even came close to Oscar quality, and he didn't even win! All I can say is, that it's a mildly interesting movie, shot in a beautiful area, and it posesses wonderful direction.
Rating:
Summary: Extraordinary People
Review: Redford has given us one the most remarkable films of our time. Put down Tuesdays with Morrie. Put down The Road Less Traveled. This film tells us all we need to know about living honestly. Just buy the darn thing. Trust me. Um, where's the DVD?
Rating:
Summary: Ordinary People Shows Depth of Suffering
Review: Like American Beauty, Ordinary People shows an outwardly normal family in which something is terribly wrong. Each of the members has their own way of denying the death of the eldest son Buck. The remaining son, Conrad brillantly portrayed by Tim Hutton, becomes morose as he blames himself for the death. The mother, which Mary Tyler Moore portrays in one of the most excellent and haunting performances in motion picture history. The father, played by Donald Sutherland is desperately trying to keep his family together. Judd Hirsh, as the psychiatrist helps Conrad realize the depth of his grief and the true nature of his family. There is not a character of a scene in this film that is not excellently done. And the performance of Mary Tyler Moore gives at true insight into a woman whose lifelong facade of happiness was beginning to break.
Rating:
Summary: SEARING
Review: Robert Redford brings Judith Guest's novel to the screen with razor-sharp eloquence. This movie, a keenly observed portrait of an American family dealing with the loss of one of their own, has no fat. The Oscar-winning screenplay by Alvin Sargeant sounds utterly true on the tongues of these talented players, each of whom is drawn with empathy and humanity. The WASPy ambience underscores the central conflicts, both for Conrad (Timothy Hutton), who battles his own guilt/demons, and between him and his emotionally devastated mother and father. Mary Tyler Moore deserved the Oscar (she lost) for her portrayal of Beth, a woman who exists as a veneer, and Dinah Manoff haunts you as a fellow suicide survivor whom Conrad befriends. Too, Elizabeth McGovern is awkwardly charming, like a new-born fawn about to grow up; Donald Sutherland does a memorable turn as Conrad's awakening dad. Judd Hirsch brings a surprising but unaffected warmth to the key role of psychiatrist, and while the movie stays within the confines of its own fragile, upscale but emotionally crippled world, it makes a case for therapy as a universal healing. Set on Chicago's North Shore, virtually no detail is without its own peculiar gravity, from the sound of Beth's expensive shoes on the rich carpeting, to the jagged hair Conrad butchers himself, to the shivery feeling Conrad engenders in the uncomfortably real swimming scenes. Everything moves towards the revelation that will unlock Conrad's heart at last, from the seasonal change of autumn to winter, to the score -- a choral Pachelbel Canon whittled down to a single key stroke on the piano -- to the psychiatrist's office becoming darker, darker, darker still - until we find ourselves in the middle of a painful Christmas night. Ordinary People remains as powerful today as it did when it was first released, a testimony to the power of honest elegance, and to the spare, stripping away of the layers we often bury ourselves within. Heartbreaking.
Rating:
Summary: The Beauty of Tragedy
Review: I cannot comment of the greatness of this film enough. Robert Redfords directorial debut deserves something to be admired. While Timothy Hutton also in his first role recieves the Oscar (as does Redford for directing, and the film for best picture). The story of a young boy, after attempted suicide and the loss of a brother, tries to get along with his parents. The mother is cold and distant, while the father attempts to bridge the gaps of love. A tender film so well told. One of the most realistic films I have yet to see. If you are taking psychology, be sure to enjoy it, you will see it quite a bit as it demonstrates many psychopathologies and family therapies that are involved. I highly suggest this film with a box of Kleenex.
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