Ordinary People

[filmcritic]

It's unusual that there is almost only one piece of music throughout this film, Canon in D. That's just about it. It's amazing how Robert Redford can make such a great film with only one piece of music in it.

[soixante]

The book Ordinary People was highly praised, at least by Time magazine.

I have mixed feelings about the film.  I remember when it came out, it didn't look that interesting.  But people kept raving about it, so I saw it, and I had a rather neutral response -- not bad, not good, just there.  

I think if Gene Hackman had played the therapist, and if Ellen Burstyn had played the mother, it would have been much better.  I felt that both Judd Hirsch and Mary Tyler Moore are pretty one-dimensional actors, and I simply didn't buy Moore as a Nurse Ratched type.

However, I do know some people who related strongly to the film, had similar relationships to their parents, etc.  Undoubtedly, there was some core of truth to the film.

[Duck Sauce]

I think Mary Tyler Moore was very good in it, she was successfully unlikeable to me but not to the point where I couldnt sympathize. Burstyn would have been better, but MTM still was great/

[Ghostboy]

I actually just saw this a few weeks ago. I thought it was very good -- the comparisons to Bergman are quite appropriate. But the psychiatrist subplot hasn't aged well, I think. Especially if you've seen the (inferior) 'Good Will Hunting,' which follows exactly the same healing trajectory. Other than that, it was an incredible movie. I love the rather fragmented storytelling approach; every scene feels like a brief interlude, almost an individual episode, and the way they slowly start to build on each other is very effective.

[USTopGun47]

It's been awhile, but I loved it, especially the scenes with the psychologist.  It is sad, but I don't think Scorsese will ever get his deserved Picture/Director Oscar.  That shouldn't interfer though with the judgement, the Oscars are quite horrid really.

[sexterossa]

my favorite moment was on the golf course where the fight between the two parents took place. it was such a climax of building tension, similar to the affect magnolia had on me when he we keep seeing Phillip Baker Hall becoming sicker and sicker on live TV until he finally passes out.

[filmcritic]

Robert Redford (the director) is 66 today! Does anyone agree with me that he's a better director than he is an actor? Apparently the Academy thinks so since he beat Martin Scorsese for "Raging Bull" that year. But the Academy is hardly ever fair or even right.

[Find Your Magali]

Figured this would be as good a place as any for some more Redford news:

Robert Redford on art and politics

   WASHINGTON (AP) — Paint helped turn Robert Redford into an actor.
   "I was first sort of recognized as a person through my art," said Redford, who began his career as a painter and was in town to deliver a speech at the Kennedy Center on supporting the arts.
   "I spent a lot of time (in school) finding things more interesting out the window or not coming in at all, so I was always getting in trouble. I spent a lot of time at the blackboard, either being punished, or drawing because that's something I could do," Redford said in an interview with AP Radio.
   "There was no real program in school at that time," he said. "I was fortunate that it went that way for me because God knows where I'd be without that support."
   Also, Redford is throwing his support behind something he has shunned in the past — a sequel. He and Larry Gelbart are co-writing a script that follows up on 1972's "The Candidate."
   Redford doesn't ever do sequels because he says he has too many other stories to tell, but he was intrigued by the thought of where character Bill McKay would be 30 years later.
   "The thing that really pushed it across for me already having said no was the idea that the character I am today would be president, looking at an ad running against him of himself as a younger man when he stood for something he no longer stands for," he said. "He's so far removed from that person. Me looking at myself as a younger person just felt kind of good."
   "The Candidate" was about how politics stresses style over substance. So what about Arnold Schwarzenegger?
   Redford said he was opposed to the California gubernatorial recall in general, but was staying neutral when it comes to Schwarzenegger.
   "I don't know Arnold, but he's a colleague. The only thing I would say is that I think given his money and whatever celebrity he does have, he'd probably be more effective out of politics and doing what he wants outside rather than inside."

[AlguienEstolamiPantalones]

ok everybody who rented this and and network after you saw the magnolia dvd rasise your hands

[filmcritic]

I'm happy to say that I saw it way before I saw the "Magnolia" documentary.

[Finn]

I saw this movie on IMDB's movie of today and started thinking back on it. It's a really excellent drama, one of the first and best to analyze dysfunctional families. All the performances and the direction by Redford were great. I hated that it was up against "Raging Bull" cuz they're totally different from each other.

[Pubrick]

I hated that it was up against "Raging Bull" cuz they're totally different from each other.

yeah, all movies released in the same year should be exactly the same.

[Finn]

I hated that it was up against "Raging Bull" cuz they're totally different from each other.

yeah, all movies released in the same year should be exactly the same.

I'm not saying they should all be the same, but those two movies were both great in their own way and it's unfair to choose one over the other. But that's what the award shows have to do.

[atticus jones]

I hated that it was up against "Raging Bull" cuz they're totally different from each other.

yeah, all movies released in the same year should be exactly the same.

that is a rather brilliant idea...

much like the chinese year of the monkey, rooster etc.

for instance...2006 is year of the dark comedy or action adventue or whatever and all directors must submit their entry...

of course the "year of" categories could be announced well in advance to allow for pre production, etc. and could be cyclical as well

a global cinematic olympics/world cup/ dick whipping contest if you will...

p...i do

not to hijack, so a comment on o.p.

easily a top five in terms of films that inspire my dramatic writing...in fact not my favorite film in terms of performance but the sibling/family thing draws blood every time we go...

loved the previous comment about the music...or lack thereof