Review of August: Osage County (2013) by Lowbrowcinema — 09 Apr 2014

Trite and uneven, AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY may once and for all disprove Leo Tolstoy's very famous and over-used quote, "All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.' This mess of a movie ladles out the usual American family dysfunctions without a trace of insight or depth.

We've seen it all before, much better/much worse, in the theater, on film and hourly on television. Clearly there is talent involved from Pulitzer Prize winner Tracy Letts, who adapted the film from his own wildly successful and respected play, to a team of top producers who put together a star studded cast more for their wattage than cohesion.

Meryl Streep leads the dysfunction while still overplaying the mother superior from DOUBT. Director John Wells is unable to reign her in or create any rapport among the actors. AUGUST requires a true ensemble, but with the film you never believe this is a real family.

Julia Roberts comes out on top both in plot and performance but it really doesn't matter. She and everyone one else is done in by a film that really doesn't know what it wants to be. The cinematography is bright when it should be dark.

The music sweetens when it should bite. Worst of all, the claustrophobia of the play is undermined with characters running in and out of the house like cracked up lab rats. This is not a work that needed to be opened-up.

In fact, it needed to be closed in. Made more tight and claustrophobic for the screen. And when the characters do sit and stick around for abuse at the dinner table, you'll ask, "Why don't they just leave again?" AUGUST is truly a mess of a county.