Ordinary People starring Donald
Sutherland, Mary Tyler Moore, Judd
Hirsch, Timothy Hutton, M. Emmet
Walsh
Redford Definitely Gets The North Shore
This is a absolutely wonderful and convincing film about affluent middle
America and how a family confronts a tragedy that is outside of its normal
control. It is a story of change that is thrust upon people who are
extremely secure in their environment, who are not used to things they
cannot immediately master, dismiss, or anesthetize by a cushion of money
and supportive relationships.
The story centers on a sensitive and gifted younger son, who is caught in
an existential anxiety that he cannot control. Timothy Hutton delivers what
I think is the finest performance of his career, his every gesture displaying
the turmoil he is feeling i nside. He cannot feel anything, he complains, and
is heading for another breakdown. He deserved the Oscar for it. But
Donald Sutherland is also great as his father, who is struggling to cope
with issues he has never confronted. Finally, in perhaps her most subtle
role, Mary Tyler Moore is the mother; afraid of genuine emotion, she had
long been content to live in a comfortable predictability, long accustomed
her role and milieu. They are all reacting to unspeakable pain in their own
ways, revealing their strengths and capacities.
The final character in the film is Chicago's North Shore, a community that
must be experienced to be believed. Redford portrays it with a sensitivity
that is astonishing and not in the slightest condescending in spite of his
many comical touches. I grew up there and still feel it is more or less
home, though I have long since left. The place is one of the most affluent
yet least cultured places in the US. Its residents feel entitled to a natural
continuation of their family patterns: get a good job, probably related to
finance in Chicago, and live a comfortable life of local prestige and style. I
do not mean to imply that their lives are superficial or empty, just largely
unquestioned and unquestioning, preoccupied with the generation of
wealth and perpetuation of their "class standing" (for want of a better term).
However, if something disrupts this cocoon - personal tragedy, economic
upheaval, or just not fitting in - they are forced to leave their comfort zone,
often with devastating results but also with the potential to grow.
The plot of the film is about the son, Conrad, as he begins to see a
wonderful psychiatrist, who is completely straight with him as well as
caring. They develop a powerful relationship, a space where Conrad can
be himself and experiment with a new way of being. While the father is
open to it, the mother refuses to recognize Conrad's struggle. The results
are surprising as the equilibrium of the family shifts fundamentally.
Redford's film raises all of these issues with perfect emotional pitch. I
watched it with my daughter (14); our family had lived in the area for a
couple of years - kind of a sabbatical from our home in Europe, to be near
my parents. She saw places we knew, recognized the typ es of people,
and also learned about psychiatry (my father was a psychiatrist). We
were both moved to tears by the story and the outstanding acting and
talked a lot about the film afterwards. It is true art about what I have long
viewed as an artless place.
Warmly recommended. With the many subtleties in it, this film can be
watched many times.
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