Ordinary People (1980)

Plot: The accidental death of the older son of an affluent family deeply strains the relationships among the bitter mother, the good-natured father and the guilt-ridden younger son.

Stars: Donald Sutherland, Mary Tyler Moore,  Timothy Hutton

David Denby Take:

American Protestants are apparently the only people on earth who cannot eat and talk at the same time. At least that’s what I’ve learned at such recent movies as The Heartbreak Kid, Annie Hall, Interiors, and the new Ordinary People, all of which have featured a scene in which the Wasps sit down to dinner only to discover that they cannot have a conversation. The Ghastly Wasp Eating Scene is an atonal chamber symphony of missed connections and non sequiturs, trailing off into a terrible silence. Of course, the hapless conversations are meant to be symptomatic of a greater malaise—the atrophy of heart and soul. Our popular culture is fixated on the notion that Wasps can’t laugh or feel.

Ordinary People, the first film directed by Robert Redford, is the most explicit version of this dubious thesis ever put on film.

My Opinon

Well acted, if somewhat  unconvincing, family drama remarkable for (1) winning an Oscar and (2) having MTM play against type as a chillingly repressed character.  Playing Timonthy Hutton's mother,  "Beth", MTM is the villain of the piece as she seems uncaring toward her son recovering from a suicide attempt.  She's the most interesting character in the film but unfortunately MTM is a supporting character.  The film constantly cuts away from her,  to focus in on Huttons' less interesting interactions with his HS friends, swim coach, Girlfriend, and Karen - who also attempted suicide. Even worse, we get 20 minutes of Hutton with his Jewish Psychiatrist, getting him to "Feel" and face his guilt. 

Sutherland adds little as MTM husband due to his usual dullness and odd looks. However, the film did keep me interested when core family relationship was in the spotlight.  Which was about 50 minutes out of 120.

More on Beth

Not only does the film need more "Beth Time" we  never get a sense of her as a real character.  Instead of being a real-live rounded person, who's perhaps still in shock/grief from the death of her oldest son, and her younger son's suicide attempt, we're presented with a cold-hearted woman, a "WASP witch" (Pauline Kael), who only cares for appearances. And can't love.  

Further, the film doesn't really give her side of the story. And nothing she does justifies Sutherland more or less telling her off and reading  her out the family. 

Summary:  More "After-school special" than Ingmar Bergman,  Ordinary People plays to the mass audience. Well acted, but we ge too much about Timonthy Hutton and his HS friends and not enough on the inner-family backstory and dynamics.  The dull Jewish Pyschiatrist drags down the movie even more.  Too bad, because MTM gives an excellent performance. 

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