Review of August: Osage County (2013) by Archonmagazine — 19 Sep 2014

Adapted from the 2008 Pulitzer Prize winning play of the same name, August: Osage County is what you expect in an Oscar nominated film. The tale of the troubled Weston family told over the course of a few weeks in Oklahoma as a disjointed family comes together when the sole male and patriarch goes missing.

Dysfunctional is almost an understatement when it comes to the Weston family’s problems. You name the depressing affliction and they have it. Incest? Yup. Cancer? Yup. Molestation? Yup. Suicide? Yup. Drug addiction? Yup. Divorce and Separation? Yup. Infidelity? Yup. Racism? Yup. Child Abuse? Yup. While this ‘everything but the kitchen sink’ mish-mosh of gloomy subject matter is not entirely the fault of the director, since it is an adaptation of Tracy Letts’ creation, it comes across as heavy handed and excessive in the film.

The acting can partially be to blame, as it is as graceless as the plot. Meryl Streep does as she always does, she transforms. But you cannot shake that underneath the wig and make up it is still Meryl Streep playing the pill popping verbally abusive matriarch, Violet Weston. Julia Roberts does a better job playing the daughter who got away, Barbara. I believe the star is Julianne Nicholson, who plays Ivy, the dismissed and criticized daughter burdened with the task of caretaker of the house. Hopefully this film can act as a catalyst for her career because she shines, as does her partner in the film, Benedict Cumberbatch.

The film reeks of “Academy Award” material as a product of the Weinstein brothers, but is undeserving of taking home the prestigious accolade in any category. Though fine as a dramatic film it is no tour de force. It lacks the longevity of presence and will probably be forgotten within a few years.