Welcome to another edition of Adam's Reviews!! **queue in intro music**
Today's movie review is the family drama One True Thing (1998) where a young ambitious writer Ellen, played by Renee Zellweger goes back home to look after her terminal ill mother played by the queen herself Meryl Streep. Ellen grows up admiring and idolizing her father, a famous writer while she doesn't have a real connection with her mother, a common housewife. We see a few childhood flashbacks where she has happy moments of her father only. But as the story continues, we get to see that each parent has their own strengths and weaknesses, which is a something children in the family do not really see.
A slow start to the movie however with the engaging character development around personal growth helped unfolding what every family is - imperfections. A solid performance by all the actors and the supporting cast are very good but it is Streep who stands out once again. Her portrayal as a typical American housewife, which may seem cliché is actually a mask to ensure her family is happy. What is behind that mask is a strong-willed woman who cares about the simple things in life including supporting her children to whatever they wish to do with their lives. This is hard to do with acting however Streep is a genius, the lady can do anything. The family members around Streep's character Kate, do well however we see little of Ellen's brother and his point of view including the death of Kate. Hurt does well as the ambiguous father/husband who confesses towards the end of the film that his wife was the light and his one true thing who kept the family together. The bedroom conversation between mother and daughter is exceptional., which highlights that as children we go through life telling ourselves a story about our childhood and our parents, but we are the authors of that story, which at times can be more fiction then fact. Overall 7.5/10
Today's movie review is the family drama One True Thing (1998) where a young ambitious writer Ellen, played by Renee Zellweger goes back home to look after her terminal ill mother played by the queen herself Meryl Streep. Ellen grows up admiring and idolizing her father, a famous writer while she doesn't have a real connection with her mother, a common housewife. We see a few childhood flashbacks where she has happy moments of her father only. But as the story continues, we get to see that each parent has their own strengths and weaknesses, which is a something children in the family do not really see.
A slow start to the movie however with the engaging character development around personal growth helped unfolding what every family is - imperfections. A solid performance by all the actors and the supporting cast are very good but it is Streep who stands out once again. Her portrayal as a typical American housewife, which may seem cliché is actually a mask to ensure her family is happy. What is behind that mask is a strong-willed woman who cares about the simple things in life including supporting her children to whatever they wish to do with their lives. This is hard to do with acting however Streep is a genius, the lady can do anything. The family members around Streep's character Kate, do well however we see little of Ellen's brother and his point of view including the death of Kate. Hurt does well as the ambiguous father/husband who confesses towards the end of the film that his wife was the light and his one true thing who kept the family together. The bedroom conversation between mother and daughter is exceptional., which highlights that as children we go through life telling ourselves a story about our childhood and our parents, but we are the authors of that story, which at times can be more fiction then fact. Overall 7.5/10