One True Thing is set up to be a classic weepy melodrama, but the material is saved by the performances of Streep, Hurt and Zellweger. In addition director Carl Franklin takes his time letting this family drama unfold, going for the audiences emotional investment rather than big showy dramatic statements.
Renee Zellweger is Ellen Gulden, a hard driving journalist at New Yorker magazine. The film opens she is in the office of a District Attorney being questioned about the death of her mother and her tale is told in flashback. Ellen arrives at her New England family home where her mother Kate Gulden (Meryl Streep) puts the happy homemaker to shame. It is her father's birthday and mom is throwing a surprise costume party. Ellen treats all this with disdain. She is clearly over her mother's "creativity. George Gulden (William Hurt), a college professor, author and winner of the National Book Award is the parent Ellen prefers. But we see early on that dad withholds the love Ellen wants and is spiteful of all the love her mom has to give.
The family dynamic changes when Ellen has to come home to stay. Mom is sick and needs full-time care and dad insists it be Ellen. The film looks at Ellen's life in the six months from October to March as her mother's condition worsens. During this period Ellen's long held opinions of her mother and father are challenged as she looks at them both in a new way and sees who is the stronger person.
Each actor creates a whole character with the material they have. There are no broad gestures and over dramatic scenes. the closest we come is when karen has a breakdown over what the illness is doing to her body and Streep handles this scene beautifully. Hurt is excellent as the pompous professor whose high opinion of himself blinds him to the truth his daughter begins to see after living with him day by day.
The script is sensitively written and gives the actors dialogue that people might really say in this situation. The film is worth watching just for Meryl Streep alone, but make sure you have a box of tissues.
At the Movie House rating ***
2 comments:
Sometimes William Hurt really annoys me (Broadcast News), other times he is decent (Heat something?)...but mainly he annoys me
Interesting? Why does he annoy you? The film you are thinking of is Body heat with kathleen Turner.
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