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Ordinary People

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Revision as of 18:13, 7 September 2011 by 71.107.21.89 (talk) (→Awards)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff) This article is about the film. For other uses, see Ordinary People (disambiguation). 1980 Template:Film US film
Ordinary People
Theatrical release poster
Directed byRobert Redford
Written byAlvin Sargent
Nancy Dowd
Produced byRonald L. Schwary
StarringDonald Sutherland
Mary Tyler Moore
Timothy Hutton
Judd Hirsch
Elizabeth McGovern
CinematographyJohn Bailey
Edited byJeff Kanew
Music byMarvin Hamlisch
Distributed byParamount Pictures
Release date
  • September 19, 1980 (1980-09-19)
Running time124 minutes
CountryTemplate:Film US
LanguageEnglish
Budget$6 million
Box office$54,766,923

Ordinary People is a 1980 American drama film that marked the directorial debut of Robert Redford. It stars Donald Sutherland, Mary Tyler Moore, Judd Hirsch and Timothy Hutton.

The story concerns the disintegration of an upper-middle class family in Lake Forest, Illinois, following the death of the older son in a boating accident. The screenplay by Alvin Sargent was based upon the 1976 novel of the same name by Judith Guest.

The film was a critical and commercial success, winning that year's Academy Award for Best Picture over Raging Bull as well as three other Oscars, including one for Hutton.

Plot

The Jarretts are an affluent, upper middle class family trying to return to normal life after the death of one teenage son and the attempted suicide of their other, Conrad (Timothy Hutton). The boy has recently come home following a four-month stay in a psychiatric hospital. Alienated from his friends and family, Conrad sees a psychiatrist, Dr. Berger (Judd Hirsch), who helps him deal with a sailing accident in which he survived his older brother Buck. Buck, more outgoing and perceived to be a better athlete than his brother, came first in everyone's estimation (especially Conrad's). Conrad now deals with post-traumatic stress disorder and survivor's guilt.

Conrad's father, Calvin (Donald Sutherland), awkwardly struggles to connect with his son and his wife, Beth (Mary Tyler Moore). However, Beth refuses to comprehend her loss and struggles to maintain her composure. She appears to have loved her elder son more; as a result, she has grown cold toward the younger son. She is fixated with maintaining the appearance of perfection and normalcy. This, along with an inability to confront her own feelings, renders her frigid. In one telling scene, Beth overhears Calvin telling a friend at a party that their son has been seeing a psychiatrist. On their way home, she berates him for revealing something she thinks should be kept private.

As Conrad works with Dr. Berger and learns to confront his emotions, he starts dating Jeannine (Elizabeth McGovern), a kind and nonjudgmental girl from his school choir. Conrad begins to regain a sense of optimism. However, the suicide of Karen (Dinah Manoff), a friend from the hospital, threatens to bring back his depression. (Conrad finds out about the suicide later in the movie.) As Conrad struggles to re-establish normal relationships with his family and friends, he doesn't allow anyone -- especially Beth -- to get close. Beth comes across Conrad alone in the back yard and gives him a jacket in an attempt to show tenderness, only to be rebuffed. Conrad also rejects the overtures from a former friend after a fistfight, because it reopens the wounds of Buck's death.

Conrad often argues with Beth while Calvin tries to referee. At one point, Conrad confronts his mother with the fact she never visited him in the hospital; when Conrad says that she would have visited Buck in the hospital, Beth tellingly cries, "Buck never would have been in the hospital!" During a subsequent visit to Beth's brother in Houston, Calvin angrily confronts her about her attitude, suggesting that Conrad's fears of his mother not really loving him are probably well-founded.

Eventually, Conrad is able to move past Buck's death and begins to get a grasp of Beth's frailties; Dr. Berger advises him to accept her as she is. Calvin, aided by a session with Berger, observes Conrad trying to sincerely apologize for his behavior and affectionately hug Beth. She freezes and limply returns the hug, fighting to suppress any sentiment. Calvin notices this and confronts Beth again, inquiring whether she is capable of truly loving anyone. When Calvin tells Beth that he might not love her anymore, she goes upstairs and packs to leave, where she briefly breaks down crying.

As Conrad is awakened by a cab pulling away, he goes downstairs where his father tells him his mother has left. Conrad's first reaction is to blame himself. Calvin rebukes Conrad for taking that attitude but then regrets losing his temper. Conrad tells him not to apologize, that perhaps he needs his father to take him to task more often, as he used to do with Buck. The film closes with both having achieved some level of understanding and they embrace. Pachelbel's Canon plays as the camera pans up over the house, leaving us to consider a family of Ordinary People.

Cast

Production

Development

Robert Redford was looking for his first job as a director. He read the novel, was immediately stunned by its plot and knew this was the movie to start his directing career. After meeting with the author, Judith Guest, he bought the rights to the novel to adapt it into a film. After that, he looked for a distributor. He met with Paramount Pictures, which offered to distribute the film and bankroll production on a very short budget ($6 million). He also acquired Academy Award-nominated producer Ronald L. Schwary.

Screenplay

Redford hired Alvin Sargent to adapt the novel into a screenplay. Sargent won an Oscar in 1978 for the screen adaptation of Julia and had been nominated previously for the screen adaptation of Paper Moon. Sargent kept the Ordinary People script faithful to the book, though he did somewhat augment the rather minimal character development found in the novel.

Filming

The movie was filmed in Lake Forest, Illinois, where the story took place, and nearby Highland Park, Illinois. The golf scene was shot in Apple Valley, California, and interior shots were filmed in Fort Sheridan, Illinois. The high school scenes were shot at Lake Forest High School (with the swimming pool scenes done at Lake Forest College). The shopping mall was Northbrook Court in Northbrook, Illinois. The storm sequence where Conrad's brother is killed was filmed on a soundstage at Paramount Studios. The movie was filmed in 1.85:1 surround with the screen inch of 35mm.

Reception

Robert Redford and Timothy Hutton both won Academy Awards for their respective debuts: Redford as Best Director and Hutton as Best Supporting Actor. The film marked Mary Tyler Moore's career breakout from the personality of her other two famous roles as Laura Petrie on The Dick Van Dyke Show and Mary Richards on The Mary Tyler Moore Show. Moore's role was well-received and obtained a nomination for Best Actress. The film also won Best Picture for 1980.

Judd Hirsch's portrayal of Dr. Berger has also drawn praise from many in the psychiatric community as one of the rare times their profession is shown in a positive light in the movies, although some consider his portrayal to be too positive, thus lending an air of one-dimensionality. Hirsch was also nominated for Best Supporting Actor, losing out to co-star Hutton. Donald Sutherland's performance in the film was also well received and was nominated for a Golden Globe Award. He was not nominated for an Academy Award along with his co-stars, however, which today is considered one of the worst acting snubs in the history of the Academy Awards. Ordinary People launched the career of Elizabeth McGovern, who received special permission to film while attending Juilliard. 1980 was also a break-out year for Adam Baldwin, who had a small role in Ordinary People while starring in My Bodyguard the same year.

This was also the first of two times director Martin Scorsese (who directed that year's Raging Bull) lost the Academy Award to actors making their directorial debut (the other was ten years later with Kevin Costner on Dances with Wolves).

Ordinary People received very positive reviews from critics. Roger Ebert gave it four stars, calling it "one of the year's best films, probably of the decade" and later named it the fifth best film of the year 1980.

Pachelbel's Canon, used as thematic and background music, enjoyed a surge in popularity as a result. It has remained popular since then.

The film was a box office success, which grossed $54 million at theaters and $23 million in rentals.

It is the last Best Picture winner without a Film Editing nomination.

TRIVIA

In the book, Ordinary People, the character of Karen Aldrich mentions Herb Gardner's play "A Thousand Clowns", but erroneously credits the work to Neil Simon. Several readers wrote to the author Judith Guest and reported the error. She graciously wrote back with her thanks to one college freshman. Christopher D. Walton, Santa Monica, CA


Awards

Wins
Nominations

References

  1. Martin, Linda B.; January 25, 1981; The Psychiatrist in Today's Movies: He's Everywhere and He's in Deep Trouble; The New York Times; retrieved September 13, 2006
  2. Pies, Ron; 2001 Psychiatry in the Media: The Vampire, The Fisher King, and The Zaddik; Journal of Mundane Behavior; retrieved September 14, 2006.
  3. Entertainment Weekly. "25 Biggest Oscar Snubs Ever: Donald Sutherland, Ordinary People". Retrieved 2010-02-13.
  4. Ordinary People review from Roger Ebert

External links

Academy Award for Best Picture
1927–1950
1951–1975
1976–2000
2001–2025
Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture – Drama
1943–1975
1976–2000
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Robert Redford
Films directed
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