Review of Marvin's Room (1996) by Kevin R — 27 Apr 2014

He's been dying about twenty years. He's doing it real slow.

Bessie is an older lady that takes care of her dying father and battles leukemia herself. When her treatment gets so bad that she needs bone marrow, she reaches out to her sister she hasn't seen in twenty years. Her sister has two children, just finished class, and is trying to start her life over again. Is looking back the direction Bessie's sister wants to look; and if she does, how will it impact her and her family dynamic, for better or worse?

"I almost got married once before but Amber set the church on fire.".

Jerry Zaks, director of The Man who Came to Dinner and Who Do You Love, and episodes of Two and a Half Men, Frasier, and Everybody Loves Raymond, delivers Marvin's Room. The storyline for this picture is very well done with great character development and a nice primary plot mixed with clever subplots. The acting is excellent and the cast includes Meryl Streep, Diane Keaton, Robert De Niro, Leonardo DiCaprio, Hume Cronyn, and Cynthia Nixon.

"My feelings for you are like a big bowl of fish hooks.".

I came across this flick while scrolling through Netflix and decided to give it a shot since DiCaprio was in the cast. I will say this is a great depiction of life and the way you can always count on your family, even when it's a broken family. I adored how all of the characters took advantage of the "coming together" of the sisters and the overall conclusion was pretty good. This is a nice bonding movie worth a viewing.

"Hank is not something I can control.".

Grade: B.