Review of Ordinary People (1980) by David H — 27 Jan 2010

In Ordinary People, Robert Redfod makes a film that has true brilliance behind it. It is one of the best films about the inter-workings of the suburban life. It is a movie about normal people and everyday struggles that we have.

Ordinary People stars Donald Sutherland as the father of a family who has had recent loss. Their son Bucky was killed while sailing with his brother Conrad (Timothy Hutton). The majority of the movie is focused on Conrad and how he is dealing with both the death of his brother and his attempted suicide. The mother (Mary Tyler Moore) is very self-centered, she thinks of herself first before anyone else. As we follow Conrad through his daily life, we see his struggle to relate with both family and friends. It is as if he is starting new and can't seem to connect with anyone. The only person he really has a break through with is his psychiatrist (Judd Hirsch). He and Conrad have in-depth talks about how it wasn't Conrad's fault that his brother died and about how he needs to to stop delving on the past. As more and more conflict arises around the family we see all different sides of people. The movie does a great job of evoking people's true emotions.

I really appreciated Ordinary People, because of how true it was. I myself am from a neighboring suburb of Lake Forest (the city where the movie took place) and I couldn't agree more with Redford's take on the suburban life. I found myself picturing people who I knew that were just like the characters. A director's job is to make a movie seem as real as possible and here Redford is spot on. I would also like to mention the Judd Hirsh turns in a gritty performance as not only Conrad's psychiatrist, but really, his only true friend.

Ordinary People was clearly as inspiration for newer movies like American Beauty and Good Will Hunting. All of these movies focus on a set of people in there specific niche and how they try and cope with struggles they are having. Ordinary People does a wonderful job of that and there are many other things in this movie that deserve praise as well. If you haven't seen Ordinary People, you should.