Un été à Osage County

Greetings again from the darkness. Tracy Letts had a very nice year in 2008. He won the Pulitzer Prize and a Tony for writing the play August: Osage County. Since then, he has also written the play and screenplay for Killer Joe, and been seen as an actor in the key role of a Senator in the TV show "Homeland". This time out, he adapts his own play for director John Wells' (The Company Men, TV's "ER") screen version of August: Osage County.

With an ensemble cast matched by very few movies over the years, the screen version begins with what may be its best scene. Weston family patriarch and published poet Beverly (the always great Sam Shepard) is interviewing Johnna for a position as cook and housekeeper when they are interrupted in stunning fashion by Violet (Meryl Streep), Beverly's acid-tongued wife who is showing the effects of chemotherapy and her prescription drug addiction. This extraordinary pre-credits scene sets the stage for the entire movie, which unfortunately only approaches this high standard a couple more times.

Despite the film's flaws, there is no denying the "train-wreck" effect of not being able to look away from this most dysfunctional family. Most of this is due to the screen presence of a steady stream of talented actors: in addition to Streep and Shephard, we get their 3 daughters played by Julia Roberts (Barbara), Julianne Nicholson (Ivy) and Juliette Lewis (Karen); Ewan McGregor and Abigail Breslin as Roberts' husband and daughter; Margo Martindale (Violet's sister), her husband Chris Cooper (Charles) and their son Benedict Cumberbatch.

As with most dysfunctional family movies, there is a dinner table scene ... this one occurring after a funeral. The resentment and regret and anger on display over casseroles is staggering, especially the incisive and "truth-telling" Violet comments and the defensive replies from Barbara. As time goes on, family secrets and stories unfold culminating in a whopper near the end. This is really the polar opposite of a family support system.

Meryl Streep's performance is one of the most demonstrative of her career. Some may call it over the top, but I believe it's essential to the tone of the movie and the family interactions. Her exchanges with Julia Roberts define the monster mother and daughter in her image theme. They don't nitpick each other, it's more like inflicting gaping wounds. Surprisingly, Roberts mostly holds her own ... though that could be that the film borders on campy much of the time. Streep's scene comes as she recalls the most horrific childhood Christmas story you could ever want to hear.

It must be noted that Margo Martindale is the real highlight here. She has two extraordinary scenes ... each very different in style and substance ... and she nails them both. Without her character and talent, this film could have spun off into a major mess. The same could be said for Chris Cooper, who is really the moral center of the family. While the others seem intent on hiding from their past, he seems to make the best of his situation.

The film never really captures the conflicting environments of the old Weston homestead and the wide open plains of Oklahoma. The exception is a pretty cool post-funeral scene in a hayfield where Roberts tells Streep "There's no place to go". The main difference between the film version and stage version is the compressed time and the decision to include all explosive scenes. There is just little breathing room here. Still, it's one of the more entertaining and wild dysfunctional comedy-dramas that you will see on screen, and it's quite obvious this group of fine actors thoroughly enjoyed the ensemble experience.

Granted, I wouldn't last five minutes with this bunch. But having grown up with people not unlike this, I found the parrying and thrusting to be quite real. These characters are all inflicted with the same disease; they need love and drill for it, but they are incapable of letting go of their submerged self-hatred and continue to bring each other down. If you can get past that, you can sit and watch the disaster happen and appreciate some really intense performances. Black comedy is not "funny" the way that farce or physical comedy are. Black comedy draws its strength from seeing our lives as absurd and unfulfilled and still going on. Sartre thought that we all had had a terrible joke pulled on us. If we live in this septic tank, bless us. If we can rise above it, bless us too. The dialogue is real, the awful failure to express love and respect is well presented, painful as it may be. While this was not a pleasant experience, I could not take my eyes off the principles. I think about this movie all the time which means it must have got to me.

I saw the Broadway production with Estelle Parsons (Violet); John Cullum (Beverly); and Elizabeth Ashley (Mattie Fae) in 2008. I had read the play prior so I knew the surprises but it didn't take away from the play. The film does justice to the story even with forty minutes edited out of time. The film casting here is perfect but I wonder what the original cast would have added to the film adaptation. While Meryl and Julia earned their nominations, I felt that Deanna Dunagan and Amy Morton deserved their chance on the big screen as Violet and Barbara. Margo Martindale did a fine job as Mattie Fae but Rondi Reed would have been the original. While the film stays true to the story, Meryl is believable as the toxic Violet Weston. Julia Roberts has matured as an actress and can stand in a scene with Streep or anybody else. The film and stage version is not for immature audiences as the writer touches on sensitive subjects. The stage production featured a three story set where it can be difficult for a community theater. The film doesn't need to worry about that issue. The film moves through at a good pace but you wonder about what happened to the family after.

I've never seen the play on which this film is based so in a way it was good to come to this film really knowing nothing more than "people are saying this is good so maybe I should go see it". The plot sees a deeply dysfunctional family of strong-willed and vitriolic women coming back together in the wake of a family tragedy. Resentment, past hurts, bitterness and vitriol are the underlying themes as the family sits around the dinner table. I shan't say too much more than that – not because the plot is best left unknown (although it is) but more because there really isn't too much more actual plot to worry about and instead the film is more about the characters and a study of the family.

In some ways this is a bad thing and it does make the film feel long and rather lacking in a narrative drive. I can understand why many have found it dull and low on direction and focus but for me personally I thought that the strength brought about by this approach was just about enough to overcome the weaknesses inherent in it. That strength is simply in the way that it takes a very talented group of actresses, puts them together and gives them some really strong scenes to get their teeth into. Additionally, and I don't mean to be rude, but this group is of an age which Hollywood casting agents generally starts forgetting exists due to their age. As a result of this the film almost always engages in the moment or in any specific scene as we see instantly recognizable characters lash out at each other, playing out old patterns of hurt in a way that we are able to recognize them as "old patterns" even though we as viewers are here for the first time. So as a collection of scenes, the film is almost always working well – it is just when it has to come together that it doesn't do quite as well.

Despite this it is great to watch the cast go at it. Streep is great as usual and is utterly convincing as someone so engrained in patterns of behavior and carrying so much pain in her that it has affected everything – OK the cancer and the "eating pain" stuff may make it a bit too obvious, but even still she is good at what she has to do. Roberts is not quite on that level here but is still very strong while Nicholson and Lewis do well with big supporting characters. Martindale may not be as big a name (or role) but those that watch Justified already know she has presence and she holds her own here really well. The male cast are very much second fiddle but there are still good turns throughout from Cooper, Shepard, Cumberbatch, Mulroney and McGregor. The risk is that the cast feels too heavy with stars, but they are all so convincing that once they had been on screen for a little, I was more focused on the character than the career.

August Osage County is one of many films getting hyped up around the awards period and as with many films it is not as perfectly brilliant as you'll be told it is. The narrative does move but the film always seems happiest when it is just sitting and letting the family be themselves and as a result it does move slowly and perhaps the story lacks real impact. However, just as the film is happy, so are the cast and the strong individual scenes give plenty for the cast to work with, and they return the favor with a really strong ensemble feel that is engaging and convincingly laced with hurt and anger – and it is this that makes the film strong and worth a look.

I actually enjoyed this movie version better than the way over-praised stage play it is based on. Saw the play at the National Theatre with most of the original New York cast and found it obvious and sit-com my. Oddly the film which by the way has lost all the laughs the play engendered, presents a much more serious and grim portrait. Meryl the magnificent is not so magnificent in this though she at times grasps the inner feeling of the mother. Unfortunately, she also tends to go way over the top a few too many times. Julia Roberts has been directed in a more angry and vindictive manner than the original Tony winning actress I saw on stage. I always love Julia but this is not her most pleasant role. The humor has been left on the stage and not made its way to the screen. At least the film avoids the glib, "oh, look at me, I am so clever" feeling of the play.