Review of August: Osage County (2013) by Ruby H — 25 Jul 2014

You know, preposterous as it may sound, there'll come a day that the folk over at The Oscars will look back at Meryl Streep's 18 nominations and only 3 awards and just feel ashamed. What a force of nature this woman is.

There's no one better, there never was. Maybe others hit equally dizzying heights, a handful, once in their careers - Gloria Swanson in Sunset Boulevard comes to mind, but Meryl Streep is so consistent and varied.

She's in good company here. Chris Cooper and Julia Roberts and Sam Shepard and Juliette Lewis (always looking so comfortable just standing there) and lovable Juliane Nicholson make up a terrific cast.

This may be a by-the-numbers dysfunctional family drama in its outlook but the script by Pulitzer Prize-winner Tracy Letts is surprisingly dark and tragic and given extra weight in the heat and vastness of the American Midwest Plains.

Great stuff.