The Winter of Our Discontent

When the story begins, Ethan (Donald Sutherland) seems like a happy, decent man. He works at a small grocery store and although it's not a high paying or prestigious job, he likes it. However, he also remembers back in the days when his family was rich and they owned this same store...and he'd like to buy it off his boss and run it himself.

Because he is such a nice guy, some folks around Ethan keep encouraging him to be more cut-throat in life. They push him to do anything to buy back the store and make a name for himself...just like his family had once been. And, he begins to heed these comments...he becomes a very different man...a man he doesn't like nor respect.

This story is from John Steinbeck's final novel...one which, surprisingly, has only been made into a movie this one time. It's surprising becasue Steinbeck was such an important author and because it's a very good story...a story in some ways like "Death of a Salesman" as it's about the dark side of the American Dream.

This is a powerful film about how the lusts of the modern world give one an empty feeling. I watched this movie for two main reasons: my respect for the prose of John Steinbeck and the acting skill of Donald Sutherland. Sutherland made this film about 3 years after starring in the Best Picture winner ORDINARY PEOPLE. In ways, his two characters are similar, a suburbanite who can't stave off tragedy with financial success. Teri Garr gives an equally effective performance as his wife. As much as I admire Donald Sutherland, I'd have to say my favourite actor in this film is Richard Masur. He plays the mentally handicapped neighbour of Sutherland and Garr who has been forced to live on his own by his rich family. He has all the toys a person could want but still he's unhappy. The movie's theme of misunderstanding the mentally handicapped is common in Steinbeck stories (Lennie in OF MICE AND MEN and Noah in THE GRAPES OF WRATH). However, the setting seems to be atypical for John Steinbeck. Most of his stories are set in Great Depression rural area. So, to have one set in a modern, urban setting is a bit unsettling. All and all, this is a very memorable film with a very able cast of characters.

One of the main plotlines in Steinbeck's book was a plan to rob a bank on Good Friday located next door to the store to raise the money that would pay Murillo to buy it and give Hawley ownership of it again. This was missing and the plot focuses more on Danny, Ethan's alcoholic childhood friend, and a fortune telling girlfriend of Ethan's wife. Their importance increases almost to soap opera level. The conflict where his son plagiarizes a book to win an essay contest was handled quite well, though. Of course, the sad ending of Ethan nearly drowning was never included either. So, a moving family drama, but a little too bland compared to some greater plotlines that could have been explored.