Product Description: A suburban chicago couple and their son are torn by another sons death. Oscars for best picture. Studio: Paramount Home Video Release Date: 05/23/2006 Starring: Donald Sutherland Mary Tyler Moore Run time: 124 minutes Rating: R Director: Robert Redford
Amazon.com essential video: Robert Redford made his Oscar-winning directorial debut with this highly acclaimed, poignantly observant drama (based on the novel by Judith Guest) about a well-to-do family's painful adjustment to tragedy. Mary Tyler Moore and Donald Sutherland play a seemingly happy couple who lose the older of their two sons to a boating accident; Timothy Hutton plays the surviving teenage son, who blames himself for his brother's death and has attempted suicide to end his pain. They live in a meticulously kept home in an affluent Chicago suburb, never allowing themselves to speak openly of the grief that threatens to tear them apart. Only when the son begins to see a psychiatrist (Judd Hirsch) does the veneer of denial begin to crack, and Ordinary People thenceforth directly examines the broken family ties and the complexity of repressed emotions that have festered under the pretense of coping. Superior performances and an Oscar-winning script by Alvin Sargent make this one of the most uncompromising dramas ever made about the psychology of dysfunctional families. There are moments--particularly related to Mary Tyler Moore's anguished performance as a woman incapable of expressing her deepest emotions--when this film is both intensely involving and heartbreakingly real. No matter how happy and healthy your upbringing was, there's something in this excellent film that everyone can relate to. --Jeff Shannon
Customer Reviews
Average Rating:
Rating: - Whiny
Like watching a bunch of 4-year-olds throwing temper tantrums about early bedtimes. The main characters in this film spend their time either sulking petulantly or delivering semi-coherent, self-indulgent ... Read More
Rating: - one of the great all-time films
in an age of faster and bigger is necessarily better, Ordinary People is a quiet gem that builds in power with each scene. Redford is not afraid to set the camera down and let the characters speaks for themselves. ... Read More
Rating: - Excellent movie still!!!
whenever I am asked what is my favortie movie I would always answer "Ordinary People".....for years no one could find it. Even my friend that can find anything couldn't find it...I am so glad you had it.
this ... Read More
Rating: - Extraordinary Performances
Every family isn't perfect, and has its issues. Some families have scars and pain that threaten to destroy them, like the family in this film: three ordinary people.
I had never seen Ordinary People until ... Read More
Rating: - Hits close to home
I have always liked this film, ever since I saw it in the theatre in 1980 when it was released. It's painful to watch the scenes between the obedient son and a mother who cannot and will not emote love to her child, ... Read More
- Whiny
- one of the great all-time films
- Extraordinary Performances