Each awards season, there’s one film that just looks like it was made to be considered for the Oscars. Someone’s crying, someone’s dying, it’s set in the past, there’s a big, sweeping orchestral score, etc. It’s usually an extravagant period piece or an emotionally draining drama.
Those who saw the trailers of the fall movie releases might have predicted “The Butler” and “August: Osage County” as this year’s Oscar bait. They’re both star-studded and deep to the point of being melodramatic, but “Osage County” actually manages to have a few tricks up its sleeves by the end.
When the father of the Weston family, Beverly (Sam Shepard) dies, his daughters Barbara (Julia Roberts), Ivy (Julianne Nicholson) and Karen (Juliette Lewis) return to Osage County, Okla., for the funeral and to console their erratic and sickly mother, Violet (Meryl Streep).
Other relatives who tag along are Violet’s flamboyant sister, Mattie Fae (Margo Martindale), her husband, Charlie (Chris Cooper), and their slow son, Little Charles (Benedict Cumberbatch); Barbara’s soon to be ex-husband Bill (Ewan McGregor) and their daughter, Jean (Abigail Breslin); as well as Karen’s big-shot Miami fiancé, Steve (Dermot Mulroney).
“August: Osage County” is produced by the Weinstein Co., which has a great track record at the Oscars – “Shakespeare in Love” (1998), “Chicago” (2002), “The Aviator” (2004) and “Silver Linings Playbook” (2012) are just a few of the more famous ones.
For whatever reason, “August” hasn’t been getting as much notice as some of its competition. It could be because, unlike the previous winners, John Wells’ adaptation of Tracy Letts’ hit stage play is a little uninspired and dull for the first hour.
Letts, famous for his sardonically dark and twisted themes like those seen in “Bug” (2006) and “Killer Joe” (2011), seems to have let his latest adaptation go a little too Hollywood. This time, he has big-time producers in the Weinsteins, who love a happy ending, rather than an indie production from director William Friedkin.
The film’s big star and token nominee for best actress, Streep, is playing one mean and self-centered old woman who doesn’t hold back on her contempt for her family. We should feel about as much empathy for her as we do Nurse Ratched, but the problem is Streep is so showy and animated in the part that it takes audiences out of the picture.
Her on-screen daughters, on the other hand, are a revelation. Roberts gives us the best acting of her career as Barbara, the oldest sister who just wants to break away from Osage for good. Nicholson and Lewis break audiences’ hearts as the two younger sisters who just want someone to love them and are finding it in the wrong arms.
Though the first and second acts of the film drag, by the time we’ve reached the third act with the Weston family, the wheels start rolling in motion and all hell breaks loose. Roberts nails it, and a scene between Streep, Roberts and Nicholson almost make up for the rest of the movie.
Streep and Roberts have been getting a lot of hype for their performances in “August: Osage County,” and if there’s anything wrong with that, it’s because Roberts isn’t receiving all of it.
mbianco@durangoherald.com. Megan Bianco is a movie reviewer who reviews for Picket Fence Media, a Southern California print and online publisher. She is a graduate of Cal State University, Northridge, where she studied film criticism and screenwriting.
August: Osage County
The Weinstein Co. presents a film directed by John Wells. Written by Tracy Letts, based on his play. Starring Meryl Streep, Julia Roberts, Ewan McGregor, Chris Cooper and Abigail Breslin. Running time: 119 minutes. Rated R (for language including sexual references and for drug material).
“August: Osage County” is playing at the Gaslight Cinema.
