Robert Redford made his Oscar-winning directorial debut with this highly acclaimed, poignantly observant drama (based on the novel by Judith Guest) about a well-to-do family's painful adjustment to tragedy. Mary Tyler Moore and Donald Sutherland play a seemingly happy couple who lose the elder of their two sons to a boating accident; Timothy Hutton plays the surviving teenage son, who blames himself for his brother's death and has attempted suicide to end his pain. They live in a meticulously kept home in an affluent Chicago suburb, never allowing themselves to speak openly of the grief that threatens to tear them apart. Only when the son begins to see a psychiatrist (Judd Hirsch) does the veneer of denial begin to crack, and Ordinary People thenceforth directly examines the broken family ties and the complexity of repressed emotions that have festered under the pretence of coping. Superior performances and an Oscar-winning script by Alvin Sargent make this one of the most uncompromising dramas ever made about the psychology of dysfunctional families. There are moments--particularly related to Mary Tyler Moore's anguished performance as a woman incapable of expressing her deepest emotions--when this film is both intensely involving and heartbreakingly real. No matter how happy and healthy your upbringing was, there's something in this excellent film that everyone can relate to. --Jeff Shannon
Customer Reviews:
Avg. Customer Rating: 5.0 / 5.0
Beautiful film.. Was moved sufficiently by this film to write a small review. Was especially moved by Timothy Hutton's character - what an intense performance - utterly believable and sometimes painful to watch. Whatever happened to Mr Hutton? I was terrifically moved by Donald Sutherland's early morning monolgue at the dining room table... I defy anyone to watch this film and remain unconcerned by what the outcome may have been.
On the down side, it was a little overdramatic - which ate into the authenticity of the... more info
Noir Movie When Beth ( Mary Tyler Moore) breaks a plate in Ordinary People the significance of the action is clearly signalled to the audience, but we have no way of knowing whether Beth shares our understanding of its meaning.
Only Calvin (Donald Sutherland)and Conrad (Timothy Hutton)can motivate the flashbacks that provide the audience with some access to their thought processes, just as only Calvin and Conrad experience the talking cure of psychoanalysis.
Beth is given no chance to gain our sympathy by sharing... more info
An extremely moving family drama This movie profoundly affected me when I first saw it 6 years ago,when I was 10, and watching it today its impact remains undiminished.
In the wrong hands, this could so easily have become yet another dreary family drama in the TV Movie of the Week tradition, but first-time director Robert Redford skillfully avoids all the cliches. His restrained direction ensures that the movie never descends into melodrama, and the big moments are superbly realised without the use of soaring strings or other Hollywood... more info
Amazingly assured directorial debut Robert Redford's debut as a director distinguishes itself by the economy of the directing,but also the sreenplay, with not a wasted frame or throwaway line of script between the two. The achievement is rounded off with towering performances, not only from Timothy Hutton, Mary Tyler Moore and Donald Sutherland as the surviving family members; but equally from Elizabeth McGovern as Hutton's soul mate,salvation and link with the rest of humanity, and Judd Hirsch ("Taxi") as the pragmatic,straight-talking... more info
![Ordinary People [1980] (REGION 1) (NTSC)](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51RZKWS04NL._SL160_.jpg)
