Review of Ordinary People (1980) by Alex K — 04 Nov 2013
In this realistic portrait of 70s American life, Robert Redford lets us focus on a seemingly normal family that is slowly falling apart on the inside. Largely the inspiration for American Beauty, Ordinary People laid the groundwork by developing the inner aggression and trouble of the family slowly, as we go from laughing at the characters to pitying them.
Donald Sutherland is a pitch perfect father, confused but trying, and Mary Tyler Moore is the PERFECT American bitch mom. Timothy Hutton is a bit too much of a Holden Caulfield loving bitch to be sympathetic, but he's trying, and we still care.
The storylines of the parents and child come together a little oddly and optimistically at the end, but it's nothing we aren't welcome to see. Ordinary People is a fantastic reflection on the way an American family lives deep down, and a crucial portrait of the breaking of psychiatry at the end of the 70s.
This review of Ordinary People (1980) was written by Alex K on 04 Nov 2013.
Ordinary People has generally received very positive reviews.
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