[Movie Review] August: Osage County (2013)

Posted on December 31, 2013 by thegrandshuckett in Movie Reviews // 0 Comments

Plot Summary: A look at the lives of the strong-willed women of the Weston family, whose paths have diverged until a family crisis brings them back to the Oklahoma house they grew up in, and to the dysfunctional woman who raised them.

Director: John Wells

Writer: Tracy Letts (screenplay)

Runtime: 121 min

Main Cast:

Meryl Streep as Violet Weston
Julia Roberts as Barbara Weston
Chris Cooper as Charlie Aiken
Ewan McGregor as Bill Fordham
Margo Martindale as Mattie Fae Aiken
Sam Shepard as Beverly Weston
Julianne Nicholson as Ivy Weston
Juliette Lewis as Karen Weston
Abigail Breslin as Jean Fordham
Benedict Cumberbatch as Little Charles Aiken

Review: by Anthony and Lee

With Meryl Streep and Julia Roberts receiving Golden Globe nominations for Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress respectively along with a Screen Actors Guild nomination for Outstanding Performance by a Cast, it was easy to see why we had to watch August: Osage County.

What We Liked:

The acting was pretty intense in August: Osage County. With such a stellar cast, outstanding performances were just to be expected, but some definitely outdid others.

Meryl Streep’s character, Violet Weston, was a crazy woman. Suffering in pain from mouth cancer and addiction to prescription pills, she was spiteful, bitter, and argumentative, She truly brought the phrase “misery loves company” to life, dragging everybody around her down to her level of sadness. As hateful as she was, though, Meryl Steep made her someone we could relate to. She made us care about her and sympathize with her struggles, a difficult feat considering how truly horrible her character was.

It was great watching Julia Roberts as Barbara Weston, the eldest of the three sisters, argue and bicker with her mother and take the reigns of power over the family affairs. In the midst of her character’s world falling apart, Julia Roberts brought her strength and power to life, making her believable and understandable.

Chris Cooper and Margo Martindale had excellent on screen chemistry in their several scenes together. Benedict Cumberbatch was fantastic as always as Little Charlie Aiken and played a character we’ve not seen him portray. He was awkward, clumsy, unsure of himself and generally unassertive. It was a nice change of pace for him.

The main story line of a family that completely falls apart after its patriarch’s suicide was dark, but the numerous sub plot lines turned the entire film into a sort of comedy. The constant bickering, though it contributes to the deterioration of the family ties, was absolutely hilarious, and the individual family members’ dysfunctional personal lives that they try so hard to keep hidden continuously came to light in the most humorous ways possible. The ultimate realization that the family members are nowhere near as close as they pretend to be was sad but ultimately the most interesting thing about the movie.

What We Didn’t Like:

As funny as it was, it was definitely dark humor. That is fine for us, but it would not appeal to everyone.

Also, there is no happy ending. It is the story of the disintegration of a dysfunctional family and the lies, deceit, and anger that tore it apart.