Friday, October 25, 2013

Film review: "August: Osage County" (2013)

Three and a half years ago, Joe and I attended a performance of Tracy Letts's Pulitzer Prize-winning play August: Osage County in St. Paul.  We both thoroughly enjoyed it, particularly the fiery performance of Estelle Parsons as family matriarch Violet Weston.  One can imagine my excitement when six months later it was announced that Meryl Streep and Julia Roberts were planning on starring as mother and daughter in the film adaptation.

 Despite a few delays and my worry that the film would never be produced, in the fall of 2012 production was underway in Oklahoma.  I was fully prepared to have to white knuckle it until Christmas 2013 to see this movie, but the Word on the Streep gods shined down on Minneapolis and the Twin Cities Film Festival last night to provide a lucky few the opportunity of a sneak peek.

The film centers around the women of the Weston family, as three daughters return to their childhood home and their pill-addicted mother (Streep) after their father Beverly goes missing.  After we learn of Beverly's death, family secrets and festering grudges come to light.  Julia Roberts gives what I consider the best performance of her career as the eldest sister Barbara, and enjoys the most hotly contested scenes of the film, battling it out with her stumbling, rarely fully coherent mom. 

Unsurprisingly, Meryl towers above the rest of this superb cast in what will likely go down as one of her most challenging and complex performances.  Her Violet, while one minute spewing profanity after slurred profanity, is the next minute tender, quiet and lucid.  She dominates the famous funeral dinner scene in a way that made it impossible for me to take my eyes off of her and left me wishing the 20-minute scene were longer. 

My favorite moment of Meryl's however is later in the film when she tells her daughters a story about her own mother.  I feel here is where we really get a sense of who Violet is and where she comes from.  We see the monster reduced to a broken-hearted, vulnerable little girl, perfectly captured by Meryl's nuanced choices. 



The film itself is well made.  I enjoyed how director John Wells opened up the setting to include the Oklahoma landscape, as it added a great sense of isolation and character.  The story very closely followed the original play, despite having pared down a few of the roles.  Splendidly supporting Streep and Roberts were fine performances by Julianne Nicholson, Chris Cooper, Margo Martindale and Benedict Cumberbatch.   

I'll be interested to see what I think of the movie when I see it again in a few months.  It's been a challenge for me to objectively describe this film, as I'm very familiar with the original story and have been anticipating it for so long.  But I feel I've done it justice.  Score it another bravura performance for Meryl, one which I can't imagine won't make the cut for the top five come Oscar nomination morning. 

16 comments:

  1. Comparing the performances to Blanchett and Bullock how does Meryl Streep compare to you? I didn't think Bullock's performance was Oscar win worthly and Blanchett was good but didn't leave an impact on me.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Streep is miles ahead of Bullock in terms of performance. Blanchett was fantastic in Blue Jasmine and has a role that actually has some similarities to Meryl's in regard to acting with the meds, anger, tragic character. Baity roles each.

      Delete
  2. Glad to hear more support for Meryl's performance in 'August'! This performance is one of her best.
    Just out of curiosity, do you know which version of the film you saw? I read that 'August' now runs 119 minutes, as opposed to the 131 min version that I saw at TIFF. Did you see the film with the same ending that appeared at Toronto (ie: film ends with Barbara) or with the play's ending (film ends with Violet)? (I'm being vague to avoid spoilers...)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. This comment has been removed by the author.

      Delete
    2. Barbara version. They can still change official version for wide release, however.

      Delete
  3. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I'm so glad you liked the film Jeff, do you think it will make the cut for Best Picture?
    The race is just starting now. Here in London we are getting Philomena next week (sterling reviews thus far). It's such an exciting time!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I think it will have a tough time squeezing into best picture. Possible if we get up to nine or ten films in. I'm looking forward to seeing Dench in Philomena.

      Delete
  5. I think AOC will sneak into BP in the 8 or 9 slot.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Just watched A:OC at Austin Film Festival and same ending with last shot of Barbara, but apparently Wells cut it with Violet and that will be the final version. Streep is incredible in this. Watch the you tube clip of the dinner scene of the broadway production and Streep is 100 times more vile in her performance. I mean when she hisses "blow it out your ass, Charlie" it makes Deanna Dunagan seem like Miss Congeniality. This WILL be a BP nominee. The acting branch will embrace it. Philomena was screened the night before and it is LIGHT. It tugs at heartstrings and all the women were crying, but Dench is light in this and has one try scene but you dont see her face. Dallas Buyers CLub sucked. boring!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It's a pity these film festivals don't have Best Actress awards to give Meryl's campaign some traction!

      Delete
    2. You make a good point about the acting branch, but I still think it may be tough to get at least 10% of the #1 votes.

      Delete
  7. Do you feel the film is good but not spectacular Jeff? It sounds more like the acting is what stands out from your review and also most TFF reviews. If so, how do you feel the overall film could have been made better?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It's been difficult for me to objectively assess the quality of the film because I'm so familiar with the story. I was thoroughly entertained and thought the play was adapted very nicely to the screen. Film good not spectacular. Acting spectacular.

      I don't really know how the film could be made better. It's a great script that did enormously well onstage but film is a very different medium. I know they didn't want it be too long, but I would've liked if they hadn't cut as much of Margo Martindale's part.

      Delete