Review of Ordinary People (1980) by Jake W — 11 Aug 2009

I really enjoyed this film. It's not the best film in the world, and it wasn't as good as I had expected, but it was still worth watching, if only for the phenomenal performances of Timothy Hutton and Mary Tyler Moore.

The story is pretty simple: a married couple, Beth (Mary Tyler Moore) and Calvin (Donald Sutherland), and their son Conrad (Timothy Hutton) are dealing with the death of their older son and Conrad's attempt at suicide. Through their dealings, Conrad meets with a shrink (Judd Hirsch) and begins to examine himself and his relationship with his mother.

Let me start off by saying that this film presented huge category fraud for the acting. Timothy Hutton won the Best Supporting Actor Oscar for what was undeniably a leading role. He and Mary Tyler Moore (who scored an Actress nomination) were the leads; everyone else, to me, is supporting (even though Sutherland is kinda in between lead and supporting).

The acting was superb. The film scored six Academy Award nominations: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Actress in a Leading Role, and two nominations for Best Actor in a Supporting Role. It won Picture, Director, Screenplay, and Supporting Actor (Hutton).

As I mentioned above, the acting was incredible. To me, Timothy Hutton gave the best performance in the film. It's a difficult role to pull off - plus you have to take into consideration that this was his film debut, but he did excellent. Almost as good was Mary Tyler Moore, who was and still is best known for her comedic work on television shows such as The Dick Van Dyke Show (she played the wife) and her very own The Mary Tyler Moore Show. Here she proves her worth as a dramatic actress and as a well-rounded talent. Judd Hirsch and Donald Sutherland are also strong in their supporting roles (Sutherland is kinda in between. He could go either lead or supporting and both would make sense).

The writing and directing were also very good. The film examines the unique relationshipe between Conrad and his mother. The photography scene and the scenes in the backyard are practically brilliant. This was Robert Redford's first film. It was the first film that I've seen from him, and hopefully, it won't be the last.

Overall, a very good film with some extraordinary performances.

Recommended.