Ordinary People (1980)

User Rating:

7.8/10   

Director:

Robert Redford

Writers:

Judith Guest (novel)
Alvin Sargent (screenplay)

Release Date:

27 February 1981 (Australia)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

some films you watch, others you feel.

Plot:

The accidental death of the older son of an affluent family deeply strains the relationships among the bitter mother, the good-natured father, and the guilt-ridden younger son.

Plot Keywords:

Death | Suicide Attempt | Guilt | Grief | Suicide

Awards:

Won 4 Oscars. Another 14 wins & 8 nominations

Cast

Donald Sutherland	...	Calvin Jarrett
Mary Tyler Moore	...	Beth Jarrett
Judd Hirsch	...	Dr. Tyrone C. Berger
Timothy Hutton	...	Conrad Jarrett
M. Emmet Walsh	...	Coach Salan
Elizabeth McGovern	...	Jeannine Pratt
Dinah Manoff	...	Karen
Fredric Lehne	...	Lazenby
James Sikking	...	Ray Hanley (as James B. Sikking)
Basil Hoffman	...	Sloan
Scott Doebler	...	Jordan 'Buck' Jarrett
Quinn K. Redeker	...	Ward (as Quinn Redeker)
Mariclare Costello	...	Audrey
Meg Mundy	...	Grandmother
Elizabeth Hubbard	...	Ruth

Runtime:

124 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Australia:M | Iceland:L | Portugal:M/12 | South Korea:12 | Argentina:16 | Chile:14 | Finland:K-12 | UK:15 | USA:R | West Germany:12 | Singapore:PG | Canada:14 (Nova Scotia) | France:U

Filming Locations:

Apple Valley, California, USA

Company:

Paramount Pictures

Trivia:

The scenes at Dr. Berger's office were filmed with increasingly darker lighting to recreate the effect of it getting dark progressively earlier through the autumn.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Conrad enters the elevator to Dr. Berger's office for the first time, his hair changes length and style between shots.

Quotes:

Calvin "Cal" Jarrett: Don't admire people too much, they might disappoint you.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "House M.D.: Under My Skin (#5.23)" (2009)

Soundtrack:

Canon in D major

Ordinary is the Problem!!!!!

The setting for this movie is seemingly appropriate for characterizing frustrations...The North Shore!!...Chicago's sequestered citadel of professional and avaricious elitism...A three million dollar home, trips to Europe, your kids going off to the most expensive colleges in the country, remodeling your kitchen every couple of years and your work-less socially active wife being a permanent fixture at Marshall Fields!! All of these trademarks of success are taken for granted and merely expectations for the ultimate definition of a quiet bedroom community!! Acquisition of status is no longer excitement, it is in fact a given...The only devastating misconception to all of this is that people living in the North Shore are not superhuman, they are merely overburdened, socially, financially, physically, mentally and as this film so brilliantly depicts, EMOTIONALLY!! There is a prevailing mentality of a mandated and bothersome agenda that all of the characters in this movie must adhere to!!...The Jarretts (Donald Sutherland, Mary Tyler Moore and Timothy Hutton) are a family who are shattered by perpetual tragedy and isolation, each one of them does not know what to do about the fact that the other son, Buck, has died, and Conrad (Timothy Hutton) has attempted to commit suicide!! So much of this film deals with how the misunderstanding of each other is the monster that will win out!!.. Perseverence is something that the mother thinks she can handle, but cannot!! The son lacks social stamina for such a task, and the father needs facts to gather in order for him to attain this!!..This catastrophic dilemma is answered with social gatherings, vacations, an inordinate preoccupation with moral facades and expensive therapy!!.. The bottom line is that a tragic undermining to every critical situation continuously prevails, and that Conrad and his parents need more time than the movie allows to heel all wounds even on a superficial level...Director Robert Redford has an incredible insight in this movie, and many white collar executive households share the exacerbations and misgivings of financial competition that this Lake Forest household had to endure!!...Ordinary People won for best picture in 1980 and it is no wonder...The despondence the Jarretts face is a horror story that could teach Stephen King a couple of tricks... The Mother feels as though she must create an illusion of contentment to the outside world even if it is at the risk of neglecting her family's needs...Pretenses become her self-centered priority...The father, while well intentioned, is meager and adolescent in his approach to coping with the household's consternation..It is if he expects a resolution to his family's problems to be put in his stocking on Christmas morning...The son, Conrad, just resigns himself to misery and arctic desolation!! The overall predicament in this film has a frightening simplicity... The Jarret's aggregate plight is that they are alone, unhappy and confused!! Judd Hirsch is terrific as the shrink who feels sorry for a high school kid who is compelled to see him, but has to go through procedure to actually help him...The greatest help he can offer Conrad, is that his problems can only be solved one step at a time, and not by uttering some miracle mumble jumble like Conrad's father expects!! Ordinary People is about ordinary well to do upper middle class people, these are people who constantly torment themselves for making mistakes!! They perennially imitate wealthy people, which means they are continuously fighting a losing battle, and genuine problems such as a son attempting suicide have to take a back seat to status games and social advancement!!.. Just another $250,000.00 a year household...ho hum!!...What is bothering you? "everything!!" "did we say that"..."we mean nothing at all"....The purpose of a two acre piece of property is not to be a voice in the wilderness.. Apocalyptic human pitfalls rest on apathetic shaky grounds in Chicago's North Shore Suburbia, and are indiscriminately shelved off in callous anonymity!! Calvin Jarrett is plagued by the shattering realization of just how pitiful it is to have to attend your own son's funeral!! Tragedy fights dirty pool when it will not even allow the Jarretts to know exactly what the unanswered questions are!! The situational dilemma manifests itself by pointing out that people who seem alright may not be, household upheaval and family hardships will go quite awhile before they are even mollified!! and the beautiful cinematography of Lake Forrest represents a polar opposite of what emotional ugliness lurks in the Jarrett's domicile!! This movie concludes at a glimmer of hope for Conrad, which symbolizes a demoralizingly rudimentary progress for the entire Jarrett Family, YES!! this is very very very DEPRESSING!!! How realistic can you get!! Outstanding movie for many many reasons.. Mostly for the fact that it illustrates how clinical depression cannot be instantly cured just because there are only 18 minutes left to the movie!! I give it five stars out of five stars!!!