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Ordinary People 1980 review

Ordinary People (1980) hits harder than almost anything because it proves rich people have problems too without needing a villain or a single monologue to explain why. The story centers on a mother who can't love the son who lived, a father who finally notices the cracks, and a child who survived the boat only to survive the house. Beth Jarrett prioritizes social appearances over emotional connection with her suicidal son, and Mary Tyler Moore portrays America's sweetheart so perfectly she becomes cinema's most perfectly coiffed emotional black hole. The real twist isn't the drowning but realizing some families would rather keep the living room magazine-ready than keep their family together. Timothy Hutton at 20 won an Oscar for looking like he was carrying two funerals in one body without any speech or breakdown porn. He plays the surviving brother who attempts suicide after his family ignores the loss of the other, forcing everyone to confront reality. Ordinary People didn't invent grief; it just filmed the part families never talk about during holidays when they decide which version of normality they can survive. Raging Bull is a masterpiece where Scorsese showed a man punching the world physically. Redford showed a family punching each other with politeness instead. One is louder but the other is the one that still happens in nice houses after the credits roll. The film deserves Best Picture more than Raging Bull ever did. It depicts a family fighting each other through silence and manners while the plot involves two brothers sailing where one survives and the family ignores the loss of the other. The surviving brother tries to leave too and the house has to decide if it can handle the truth. That is the whole movie and that is why it wrecks you.

1h

Yuna@yuna_y

Follow

Ordinary People 1980 review

Ordinary People (1980) hits harder than almost anything because it proves rich people have problems too without needing a villain or a single monologue to explain why. The story centers on a mother who can't love the son who lived, a father who finally notices the cracks, and a child who survived the boat only to survive the house. Beth Jarrett prioritizes social appearances over emotional connection with her suicidal son, and Mary Tyler Moore portrays America's sweetheart so perfectly she becomes cinema's most perfectly coiffed emotional black hole. The real twist isn't the drowning but realizing some families would rather keep the living room magazine-ready than keep their family together. Timothy Hutton at 20 won an Oscar for looking like he was carrying two funerals in one body without any speech or breakdown porn. He plays the surviving brother who attempts suicide after his family ignores the loss of the other, forcing everyone to confront reality. Ordinary People didn't invent grief; it just filmed the part families never talk about during holidays when they decide which version of normality they can survive. Raging Bull is a masterpiece where Scorsese showed a man punching the world physically. Redford showed a family punching each other with politeness instead. One is louder but the other is the one that still happens in nice houses after the credits roll. The film deserves Best Picture more than Raging Bull ever did. It depicts a family fighting each other through silence and manners while the plot involves two brothers sailing where one survives and the family ignores the loss of the other. The surviving brother tries to leave too and the house has to decide if it can handle the truth. That is the whole movie and that is why it wrecks you.

1h