Review of August: Osage County (2013) by Jc E — 10 Apr 2014

So, I guess whenever Meryl Streep (Hope Springs) is in a movie, it immediately becomes Oscar bait. Even when it's directed by someone low-key as John Wells ("E.R."). However, this script must have been dynamite around the studios, because it pulled some serious talent.

As if Streep wasn't enough, Julia Roberts (Valentine's Day), Ewan McGregor (Jack the Giant Slayer), Abigail Breslin (Ender's Game), Julianne Nicholson ("Boardwalk Empire"), Benedict Cumberbatch (12 Years a Slave), Margo Martindale (Beautiful Creatures), Chris Cooper (The Tempest), Juliette Lewis (Due Date), Dermont Mulroney (J.

Edgar), and Sam Shepard (Mud) are all on board as well. It's true that Streep kind of went a little Kirk Lazarus...again...for this role, but she is remarkable, if a little predictable. The film plays out as any film that features a dysfunctional family would.

Roberts is particularly unlikable, but it tries to paint her as the victim. The dinner table scene was the standout piece of the film, probably as it was in the stage play the film is based on. It's pretty well made, but stretches the Oklahoman s-are-all-a-little-crazy to the point where you know whoever wrote the play/movie has no idea what Oklahoma or the rest of fly-over country is like.

But it's well-acted, even if the family is a little too unrealistic for those of us who live in the normal part of the country.