Review of One True Thing (1998) by Diane S — 07 Mar 2006

I simply can't agree with Marshall Fine's critique... I don't believe the police angle is a significant part of the movie... certainly not significant enough to be critiqued, truly. I do agree with his statements about Streep and Zellweger... they ARE the film.

Fine is a little hard on the character William Hurt plays. Well, not hard on him as much as he downplays the dynamic between Renee's character and Hurt's. But I only saw that dynamic fully when I watched the movie more than once. If you begin the movie concentrating on the father, you'll notice that his role is very important and he evokes sympathy as well. He's stunted... he cannot face the fact that his wife is dying, and I believe this is the reason for his "checking out". He explains, at the end of the film, that he could not imagine his wife's "light" ever going out... powerful dialogue there.

But I'm just the average joe and not a critic... not a paid critic, that is. I think the movie is brilliant. If the DVD comes with extras, namely, the commentary, after you've watched the movie, watch it again with the commentary... it serves to enrich the film.

Diane.