1980 was the year the film, Ordinary People won the Best Picture Oscar for Best Picture (along with Best Director, Best Supporting Actor and Best Adapted Screenplay). It beat out the critically-acclaimed Raging Bull and The Elephant Man, which is one of my favorite films of all-time. I remember my parents telling me that this film was not very good. They preferred the aforementioned films and trusting their advice, I never made an effort to watch this film. However, my curiosity for this film eventually won over my parent's advice, so I went to my local rental store and rented the video for the week. Boy, I never realized that I would be in for such a film gem. Sure, I can understand why my parents dislike the film, but I'll discuss that later in this review.

Basically, the film is about Conrad Jarrett (Timothy Hutton), a young high school senior who has been recently released from hospital. He has suffered from depression, which results from the accidental death of his older brother. Bud, who drowned in a boating accident. Feeling full responsibility for his brother's death, Conrad attempts suicide, but fails when his father, Calvin (Donald Sutherland), manages to save him from death. Now that Conrad is out of hospital, he starts his life again and goes back to school.

However, Conrad is still depressed and trusting his father's advice, he decides to call Dr. Tyrone Berger (Judd Hirsch), who is a psychiatrist that his former doctor recommended. Conrad's first meetings with the psychiatrist lead Conrad to nowhere, since Conrad refuses to talk about his attempted suicide and the death of his brother. But, Conrad says he does want a bit more "control" of himself.

Despite visiting a psychiatrist and all that he has been through, Conrad is still facing difficulties in the relationship with his mother, Beth (Mary Tyler Moore). Beth is clearly saddened by the death of her first-born son and has never shown the same affection to Conrad, who wants some affection from her. As the film progresses, Conrad and his mother drift further and further apart, which causes internal splits within the family, which is something Calvin does not want happening and he tries his best to mend the numerous problems his family is facing.

It is easy to see why many people are not huge fans of this film. The film is not a happy film, nor is it a film that can be considered an enjoyable film. It focuses on the son's dealings with his depression over the death of his brother and many people do not like watching a film concentrated on a topic like that. It is also difficult to watch an insensitive mother showing minimal affection to her own son, who needs the affection more than anyone else. Seeing such insensitivity portrayed on a screen is heartbreaking, and this is probably why my parents and many other people dislike watching this film. The film shows what goes on when a family is faced with misfortune and what stems from such difficult circumstances. Families face these similar problems everyday and I would think the last thing they want to see in a cinema is a film showing the type of problems they are faced with everyday. Therefore, this is why many people are not huge on this film.

Also, the film deals with favoritism within a family, which is another touchy subject for many parents and families. Parents will always admit that they have no favorites, but watching from actions it is clear that some parents do have favorites or what they would like to call their "little angel". This is portrayed through Beth's love towards Bud, who, as her first-born, was clearly her favorite. I guess this is another reason why my parents and many other people do not like this movie.

However, I feel that the problems that the Jarrett family are facing is what makes this film so great. Alvin Sargent, who adapted the book by Judith Guest, pays attention to how the characters develop in this film and on the relationships that are formed in this film. Sargent concentrates fully on how Conrad gets over his depression, and essentially, the film focuses on how an ordinary family deals with various problems within the family. The film's portrayal of family problems may be extreme, but every one who has a family knows how the Jarrett family feels when they have to deal with problems. However, people probably think that that might not be much of a plot. Because there is not much of a plot in this film, the film's story is driven by its characters and Sargent produces more than enough material for the actors of this film to use in the film.

Being given so much material, the actors take full advantage of a brilliant script. Timothy Hutton is extremely convincing as Conrad. Hutton shows such vulnerability to his character that you pity him for being so helpless. Many teenagers have faced depression and have considered suicide and this is why I think people can sympathize with Hutton's portrayal of Conrad. Hutton portrays this most realistically and does it with the utmost conviction. He deserved his Best Supporting Actor Oscar, but I feel he should've been nominated for Best Actor. However, I doubt he would win against the likes of Robert De Niro in Raging Bull and John Hurt in Elephant Man, and therefore, the Academy gave Hutton the Best Supporting Actor Oscar, so that he could win an award for his performance. Mary Tyler Moore is excellent as Beth, showing the coldness of her character superbly. Having been faced with the death of her own son, Moore is able to show the quiet grieving that many parents are faced with when a child of theirs dies. The quiet grieving and attempt to shun it from all conversation is what Moore tries to show in her role and she does this with subtlety, not making it obvious (which would also ruin the emotional power of the film). Donald Sutherland also plays a solid role as Calvin, the sympathetic father caught up in between the distant relationship between Beth and Conrad, while other supporting characters such as Judd Hirsch as Conrad's psychologist and Elizabeth McGovern as Conrad's love interest, Janeane, are also very good as people who show empathy towards the protagonist of the film (in other words, Conrad).

The music, although not rewarded with an Oscar or even a nomination, blends in perfectly with the mood of the film. Marvin Hamlisch arranges Johann Palchabel's classic Canon in D, which is a solemn, quiet and slow moving piece of music. This is played by a string quartet and they descend down various tones and semi-tones in even crochet beats. The quartet playing this song plays this to perfection, not missing a beat and every instrument in unison.

However, this film belongs to Robert Redford, the attractive blond sex bomb of the early 70s and director of this film. He directs each scene to perfection, not cutting scenes too short or stretching them too long and he fills every scene with high emotional and dramatic tension. Redford takes advantage of the sound editing by Jeff Kanew and uses each scene to the fullest. Another brilliant piece of direction Redford does in this film is not show the accidental death of Bud, Conrad's brother nor show the attempted suicide of Conrad, leaving all this in the viewer's imagination, which leaves more powerful images in the viewer's mind as compared to showing these scenes at the beginning of the film. Redford does show both these scenes in flashbacks, but Redford focuses his full attention on resolving the problems the family are faced with, and this he does brilliantly throughout the film. Redford deservedly won his Best Director Oscar for this film.

However, despite all that is going for the film, I was slightly irritated by the ending. Redford goes for a conclusive ending rather than an inconclusive ending that leaves the viewers asking questions at the end. I felt it would have been better if the audience were left asking questions at the end, because that is the position families are left at when dealing with any problem. Having a conclusive ending is realistic, but I would have preferred an inconclusive ending.

However, this tiny flaw has no overall influence to the film. I mentioned that not everyone would like this film, but if you want a gripping family drama or anything that will touch you emotionally, this is a film to watch. I highly recommend it.

Thanks for reading the review.

Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: VHS