Review of Ordinary People (1980) by Kate . — 30 Mar 2009

Conrad and his parents are upper-middle-class citizens living in America. They are a nice, clean-cut family that seem quite ordinary, but under closer examination, it appears that everything is far from Ok.

After the death of his older Brother Buck, Conrad and his parents can't seem to find a way of communicating with each other, and after Conrad attempts suicide, he seeks help from Psychiatrist Dr Berger, much to the annoyance of his Mother, who insists on promoting a normal image to the society that they live in.

'Ordinary People' is a quiet, tense and provocative motion picture that raises questions about normality, projection and the family unit. It boasts three fantastic performances from some truly skilled actors.

Donald Sutherland plays the empathetic father who struggles to connect with his wife and demonstrate the right amount of love for his son. Mary Tyler Moore is fantastic as the complacent, practical and hard-hearted Mother who seems to insist on repressing her own emotions as well as her family's.

It is Timothy Hutton, however, who steals the show as youngest son Conrad, who struggles against conflicting parents, guilt and grief. He is a revelation and deserved his best supporting actor Oscar. The film also won best director, best picture and best screen-play adaptation at the 1980 academy awards, and it is worthy of each title.

Although the pace of the picture drops slightly during the middle, its picks itself up again and manages to with-hold the attention very successfully until the conclusion, which is highly moving and very realistic.

Director Robert Redford's use of flash-back, score and silence all help to build a substantial amount of tension and make the picture incredibly tense and gripping at times. 'Ordinary People' is an interesting and intelligent film that reveals that no-one and nothing in life is really that ordinary.

Excellent.