Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Terms of Endearment (1983)



Academy Awards, USA
YearResultAwardCategory/Recipient(s)
1984 Won Oscar Best Actor in a Supporting Role
Jack Nicholson
Best Actress in a Leading Role
Shirley MacLaine
Best Director
James L. Brooks
Best Picture
James L. Brooks
Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium
James L. Brooks
Nominated Oscar Best Actor in a Supporting Role
John Lithgow
Best Actress in a Leading Role
Debra Winger
Best Art Direction-Set Decoration
Polly Platt
Harold Michelson
Tom Pedigo
Anthony Mondell
Best Film Editing
Richard Marks
Best Music, Original Score
Michael Gore
Best Sound
Donald O. Mitchell
Rick Kline
Kevin O'Connell
James R. Alexander (as Jim Alexander)


Paramount Pictures
Directed by James Brooks
My rating: 3 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Paramount)

James Brooks takes his formula for success on TV, the "dramedy", to the big screen with some deeply drawn characters and superb acting from a trio of superstars. Debra Winger is the main focus, a naive teenager who gets married to an irresponsible English professor against the wishes of her overbearing mother. We watch as all of the characters grow, and grow up, over time. Winger is devoted to her husband and children, despite his affairs, and stays close to mother Shirley MacLaine on the phone when they move to another state. Dissatisfied at home, she starts her own affair with John Lithgow. Meanwhile, mom is sleeping with next door astronaut played to the hilt by Jack Nicholson. The characters and plot are obsessed with sex and that does get a bit tiresome after awhile. For some reason the film decides to torture the viewer with 30 minutes of a depressing battle with cancer for the finale.

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