rating:
(out of
4 stars)United States; 1983
Directed by James L. Brooks; produced by James L. Brooks; screenplay by James L. Brooks
Starring Shirley MacLaine, Debra Winger, Jack Nicholson, Danny DeVito, Jeff Daniels, John Lithgow
Below you will find a temporary review for this film. The real (better, more complete) review will be online very soon.
'Terms of Endearment' is a well acted film that handles its subjects pretty
good but is too much of a tearjerker in the end. It won several Academy
Awards including Best Picture, which it did not deserve. (Better movies from
the same year include 'The Right Stuff',
'Return of the Jedi' and even 'A Christmas Story'.) It also won Shirley MacLaine and Jack Nicholson an
Academy Award and those were deserved. John Lithgow and Debra Winger were
nominated for their parts. This says a lot about the movie. The acting is so
good that you are willing to forgive the film its weak points, especially
the end.
Director James L. Brooks has directed four movies (including 'Broadcast
News' and 'As Good As It Gets') and it is the strong acting they all have in
common. The fact that he knows how to create a lot of comedy moments in a
drama film, or the other way around, is admirable as well. In 'Terms of
Endearment' people are not very happy. We have Aurora (MacLaine) who is an
obsessive mother who is probably the most unhappy of them all. Her daughter
is Emma (Debra Winger) who marries a guy named Flap Horton (Jeff Daniels);
Aurora does not like him at all. As the story develops we see how Emma and
Flap, who started pretty happy together, become more unhappy with their
lives and each other. They move away from Aurora because Flap finds a job in
Iowa. Aurora slowly lightens up. The main reason for that is the guy next
door named Garrett (Jack Nicholson).
Up until this point the film is an interesting look into a family but about
here the story starts going wrong. Especially the events around the
Winger-character seem to be there to keep the movie going in an interesting
way, including an affair with Sam Burns (John Lithgow). The later events
seem to be there only to jerk a tear. Fortunately it also provides scenes
where MacLaine, Winger, Daniels, Lithgow and of course Nicholson can show
how good they can act. Where the story goes wrong the acting only becomes
better and better. That alone is a good reason to see this film, although
especially the first half is interesting as a story as well. Actually, I
think most audiences will not mind the second half. There is a good chance
you ill be moved and the movie gets what it wants.