Ordinary People

Rating:
Summary: An emotional intelligence treasure
Review: This film is probably the single best video depiction available, that realistically shows what excellent, if honest and hard-hitting emotional therapy is really like. It's certainly a national treasure and I encourage anyone wanting to understand themselves and others better, to watch this. If you do, prepare to be changed.

Ordinary People, why are you not on DVD yet?

Rating:
Summary: Sets a standard for other films of this genre
Review: Everyone will walk away from this film with additional insight into themselves and/or their families. Similar to "An American Family," the 1970's PBS documentary about the Loud family of Santa Barbara, one almost feels like a voyeur peeking into the intimate details of others' lives. However, "Ordinary People" is fiction, though one may forget that very easily -- it is that well-written and -acted. This is a movie that is tense and gut-wrenching as the story slowly reveals the emotional knots of a family in silent turmoil. Perhaps the best scenes in the film are between Conrad and Beth, who as mother and son fail to connect on any level other than their unspoken anguish.

Rating:
Summary: JUST PERFECT
Review: Definitively, this is the best film i've ever seen, i saw it in TV last year and after this i was shocked, it is on of those films that arrive very deep in your heart, with a lot of emotions and tension. I do think that Donald Sutherland should have been awarded by the academy as the best actor.

Rating:
Summary: Perfection!
Review: I recently watched this film again after not having seen it in several years. Not only has my opinion of it remained unchanged, it has been strengthened: THIS IS THE BEST FILM I HAVE EVER SEEN! It is perfect. There is not a false moment, a wasted shot, or a badly chosen word. It is pointless to dwell on all the incredible aspects of this film, because there are no bad ones. (Although I have to say, Mary Tyler Moore's performance is absolutely unforgetable.) The truthfulness and humanity are so achingly real they took my breath away -- again and again and again. For anyone who enjoys stories about real (ordinary) people experiencing real emotions, this one is not to be missed. Oh, and you can't be afraid to cry buckets, either, because it's unavoidable. So grab a box of tissues, and watch Ordinary People.

Rating:
Summary: A work of art
Review: You will not find a more poignant film than Ordinary People. Sometimes just reflecting on it moves me to tears. Because it came out the same year as the justly praised Raging Bull, many cinephiles give Ordinary People short shrift. However, it is on every level a masterpiece of filmmaking. Beautiful cinematography, subtle and tasteful use of music. The entire production is a paragon of good taste. Each performance is indelible, down to all the supporting parts (three examples of many: James Sikking as Calvin's concerned business partner; Elizabeth McGovern as Conrad's goofy yet deeply understanding girlfriend; and Fred Lehne who plays a friend to Conrad who lurks in the background and looks out for him, yet who Conrad pushes away in several aching, so-believable-it's-like-reality scenes that, in the span of a few minutes, say more about the nature of friendship than most movies say in two hours. As is often noted, Judd Hirsch and Mary Tyler Moore are profoundly good in this film. Because Donald Sutherland plays an ineffectual father so well, his performance is often overlooked. I think it is masterful and very touching -- his best. A scene in which he confesses to his wife that he may not love her anymore is so heart-wrenchingly real that it seems like it must have come from a documentary. Finally, Timothy Hutton gives the finest performance ever by a teenage actor, and, to my way of thinking, one of the best performances ever in a film. He is the Holden Caufield of films. I was 16 when this film came out in 1980 and was amazed how accurately it depicted teenage anguish. No discussion of Ordinary People would be complete without mention of Alvin Sargent's screenplay. It is peerless and, I can say without irony, on the level of Henrik Ibsen and Eugene O'Neill. It contains no flaws. It is perfect. I am constantly in awe of it. Even the most minor characters are thought out. It is a paragon of powerful drama, with a catharsis that Sophocles would have praised. So, do not miss Ordinary People, a film that will make you cry, make you reflect, and make you remember your humanity. A masterpiece on every level.

Rating:
Summary: perfect
Review: Probably the best film of the 1980's. None of the actors here have made a better film before or since. Mary Tyler Moore is particularly good - a little TOO good. Heartbreaking, tense, but ultimately life-affirming. Not a movie, an experience.

Rating:
Summary: ONE OF THE ALL TIME MOST POWERHOUSE DRAMAS.
Review: I will continually check on amazon for good films and at what I can afford. However, with this classic, I will not purchase it until it is on DVD. This film is so real and heartbreaking with characters that will make you ache. This is one of those films where you say that you know people like this in real life, whether you like them or not. This movie also makes great use of location as a character. The beauty but chilliness of Chicago's suburbs in late fall and early winter will be of special notice to anyone from around here.

Rating:
Summary: Nothing Ordinary Here
Review: Robert Redford's directorial debut and an undisputed masterpiece, Ordinary People chronicles that most painful and delicate of subjects, the disintegration of a middle class family. Precipitated by the death of their eldest son in a boating accident, the timebomb starts ticking under the cosy middle-class denial of an American couple and their second, guilt-ridden son and finally blows them apart. Mary Tyler Moore gives the performance of her career as a woman whose lifelong facade of debutate gaiety and charm is starting to crack, though Judd Nelson, Timothy Hutton, Elizabeth McGovern and Donald Sutherland all shine. Redford's film is finally about the American middle class, its vulnerability, its artificiality, its disconnection from human emotion and ultimately its lack of resource in the face of human disaster.

Rating:
Summary: DEFINITELY A MUST SEE
Review: Just great! A real "meisterstueck"

Rating:
Summary: Ordinary People
Review: Starting off simple and almost unaffective, "Ordinary People" gradually peels back the layers of a seemingly normal family, and exposes the core angers and tensions that threaten to tear it apart. Robert Redford paints a wonderfully exquisite portrait of a family struggling to perfect its future and forget the past. His simple yet affective direction is what makes this film, both insightful and shattering. Mary Tyler Moore is a triumph, as a mother who can't risk feeling the pain of both the past and the present. As a husband struggling to keep his family together, Donald Sutherland delivers a simple, but nuanced performance. Also, Timothy Hutton's portrayal of an angry (and hurt) son is nothing short of astounding. Judd Hirsch is wonderful as an empathetic psychiatrist. In the end, "Ordinary People" teaches us two things: essentially, families learn to adapt; unfortunately, not everyone is willing to move foward.