One True Thing (1998): Dir: Carl Franklin / Cast: Meryl Streep, Renee Zellweger, William Hurt, Tom Everett Scott, Lauren Graham: Drama about sacrifice and hanging on even when your last breath hangs in balance. Meryl Streep plays an ambitious housewife busy preparing her husband's birthday. Renee Zellweger plays her daughter who arrives home to discover that her brother flunked out of college. When it is learned that Streep has cancer Zellweger reluctantly puts her job on hold. William Hurt plays Streep's husband, a university professor who acts as if nothing has changed. Zellweger distances herself when she catches him in the midst of an affair. Plot bares too many similarities to another Streep film Marvin's Room and it follows too many predictable developments. Fine directing by Carl Franklin who also made One False Move. Strong performances by Streep who focuses on family as oppose to her illness. Zellweger is excellent as the frustrated daughter trying to maintain emotions and sanity. Hurt is well cast as a husband fleeing from his emotions. Tom Everett Scott as the son who flunked out of college provides comic relief. Aside from the family, other roles are less interesting and limited at best. We all know where this is all going to end up but it examines trauma and the important things we often take for granted. Score: 7 ½ / 10
Review of One True Thing
