ORDINARY PEOPLE (1980)

[HoldenIsHere]

ORDINARY PEOPLE marked the movie directorial debut of Robert Redford, for which he received a Best Director Oscar and Golden Globe as well as a Directors Guild of America award. Alvin Sargent’s Oscar-winning screenplay was adapted from Judith Guest’s novel about an affluent family from Chicago’s North Shore suburbs trying to adjust to life in the aftermath of tragedy and trauma. The focus of the movie is the teenage son played by Timothy Hutton, who received a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his performance (he has more screen time than any other actor in the movie). Mary Tyler Moore, who at the time of the movie’s release was ingrained in the public consciousness for her role as the girl “who can turn the world on with her smile” in her long-running television comedy series, was acclaimed for her work in ORDINARY PEOPLE as a mother dealing with the accidental death of one son and the attempted suicide of another. Robert Redford has said that he envisioned Mary Tyler Moore as the mother when he first read Judith Guest’s novel. Donald Sutherland’s understated yet emotionally powerful performance as a father trying to keep his family together is a veritable master class in movie acting. His final scene with Mary Tyler Moore was reshot at his request because he thought he was crying too much. The wife’s lines were read off-camera by Robert Redford because Mary Tyler Moore was involved in another project and not available for the reshoot.

To begin the discussion of this movie, which I have seen multiple times, I’d like to provide these words of wisdom from Beth Jarrett:

“You can’t save French toast.”

[TikiSoo]

Very nice write up Holden.
I had only seen this once, finally braving myself after avoiding it due to the subject matter. I was blown away by how much I enjoyed it. I do think all the elements come together-well written story, excellent direction and unbelievably stellar performances.

MTM's talent may have been a surprise to some, but not to me. I actually think comedy is harder, even paying the straight man as she did on her TV show. I also think it offered her invaluable training ground for whatever projects she applied herself.

But I was also very impressed with Donald Sutherland's performance-he certainly is a smoldering powerhouse under that façade of cool.
Must revisit, thanks for reminding me of how good this movie is.

[HoldenIsHere]

This trailer for ORDINARY PEOPLE is so well-done, one of the best I've ever seen.
Like most trailers, the clips are shown out of sequence, but in this case it doesn't mislead the viewer about the tone of the movie.

[Allhallowsday]

I remember the ads on TV for the novel which was a bestseller ("Ordinary people...there are really none at all..."). There is not a false step in the film, with superb performances from the principles. MARY TYLER MOORE rightly blew a lot of minds. She's revelatory. DONALD SUTHERLAND gives his best screen performance as well.
And TIM HUTTON...

[CinemaInternational]

I wrote a review of it several years ago upon rewatching it. Here it is....


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Ordinary People
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I was never really much of a fan of Raging Bull.... That film, often praised as the best of the 80s, struck me as an essentially hollow albeit sufficiently flashy film. I don't even consider it to be one of the 20 best films of its own year.

Ordinary People, the film that won Best Picture instead in 1980 faces a different problem. Because of its win, there has been much hate directed toward it and the film undergoes heavy scrutiny on a frequent basis. To some, it is a pat, boring film. But its not. Ordinary People might not be a flashy film, save for the skilled juxtaposition of a current mental crisis and a past tragedy in a pulpitating scene toward the end, but it is a film of true heft and true meaning, and that beats empty flash any day and as for those statements of all being much ado over nothing because they are wealthy in this film, that is off too. Judith Guest who wrote the book, made no mistake by making her characters wealty. No. Instead it just heightens everything, shows that money is not everything, that it can't buy happiness or freedom from heartbreak. It comes for everyone, no matter what.

The key to the film is not only in what is said and shown, but also in what is left unsaid. Certain looks and glances the characters get, certain everyday phrases in seemingly mundane usage have an extra current beneath them. The film concerns the Jarretts, an upper-crust family which on the surface looks like its living the American dream. Wealth, friends, large mansion of a house, it looks like they have everything. But that would be a lie. As the film opens, we find that the family of three is still reeling from the loss of a son in a boating accident and the subsequent failed suicide attempt of the other son who survived the accident. But truthfully, none of them were the same as they once were, nor could they ever be.

Calvin, the father, as played by Donald Sutherland, is an amiable man, a good man, one who unquestionably loves his wife and son as the film opens. He is also rather passive, almost as though he knows the truth but is afraid to say anything about it. His change in the latter half of the film comes offscreen but is instantly noticible. He becomes a sad individual who realizes the truth and then after a time unleashes it and his sorrow with it.

Conrad, the surviving son played by Timothy Hutton, is the main figure. He is haunted by survivor's guilt and he is angry his mother for drifting ever farther away. For Conrad, the past can never be regained. I see some of myself in him, the haunted sense around the past, the social awkwardness, nervousness, the depression. As such, I felt deeply for him and his troubles, and although his rages can be somewhat offputting at times, he is a fascinating, brilliant individual and a very sympathetic presence. We also see three other characters who matter to him, Dr. Burger (Judd Hirsch), his wise, warm, caring psychiatrist who helps him immenesely, Jeannine (Elizabeth McGovern), the emotionally open, cheerful girl he is on the verge of dating, and Karen (Dinah Manoff), who he met in the suicide recovery ward, and seems better, yet a certain bewildered glance shows all is not well.

And then there is Mary Tyler Moore as the mother, Beth. This was shocking casting in 1980, as Moore was known for her sunny TV persona, and this was a whole world apart from that. Beth is often described as the ice queen, the monstrous villain of the piece. But director Robert Redford includes several shots, several glances of her reveal the truth to the perceptive viewer. In ways more subtle, but even deeper than the other two characters, Beth is the most lost individual. She reacts to tragedy by trying to uphold the image of the perfect housewife, because that's how she was raised. She is thus obsessive over the external semblance of perfection, trying to make sure the husband doesn't drink too much at a party, or not wanting to tell anyone that her son is seeing a shrink to avoid any stain. Stiff upper lip is her motto. And yet her chance at perfection has shattered, and she is left confused and adrift, unable to tell anyone how she feels, unable to leave the iron cage of emotions that she was taught to be, unable to show to anyone her true devestation over the loss of her firstborn, the one she loved more than anyone. And by closing into herself, she becomes distant, cynical, bitter. It's a brave performance of a tragic character.

But, as it must be stated, this is a brave film. Even in 1980, studios were beginning to cut away at films like this which were about deep matters. Today, they are almost nonexistant in mainstream studio films. Nor are acting showcases as common. All six mentioned above were excellent, brilliant truly and could not be bwttered in their parts. It gives the air of authenticity that the film needs to make its slamming impact felt. This film is a masterpiece, and fully deserved its best picture Oscar.