by Chris Marshall:
I’m now halfway through watching the Oscar winners of the
1980s, and as I feared, I haven’t been very impressed by the quality of the
movies. I was, however, quite pleased with Terms
of Endearment. It’s a typical Oscar bait tearjerker, but at least it was
well made.
Like Ordinary People,
it could have easily fallen into that dreaded Lifetime movie category if not for the quality of its cast. Debra
Winger was still a relative newcomer at the time, but this was Shirley MacLaine’s
third appearance in a Best Picture winner[1].
Among the supporting cast, Jack Nicholson, who won Best Supporting Actor for
this role, and Danny DeVito (!) were making their second Best Picture appearances.
The story is really quite expansive, though it never feels
like it. I don’t know if it’s ever specifically said how much time passes, but
it begins right before Debra Winger’s wedding and ends when her oldest kid
appears to be in his tweens/early teens. Nevertheless, the plot moves fluidly,
and it never feels like the movie is trying to do too much.
The central plot element is the relationship between
MacLaine and Winger, who are mother and daughter, but there’s a lot more going
on too, particularly related to Winger’s relationships with her husband (Jeff
Daniels) and kids. Meanwhile, MacLaine begins dating Garrett Breedlove
(Nicholson), the retired astronaut who lives next door. And both mother and
daughter are pursued by passive men (DeVito and John Lithgow, respectively).
MacLaine and Winger have a rocky relationship throughout the
film, and while their relationship with one another is never perfect, they grow
closer and closer as the years go by. MacLaine plays a complicated character;
it often seems like she’s actively trying
to make Winger’s life difficult. I don’t think that’s actually the case,
though. She clearly has many unresolved issues, and she tends to unconsciously
take those out on her daughter. I don’t want to give too much away, but I
believe a speech that Winger gives to her older son at the end of the film very
much reflects feelings she has about her relationship with her own mother.
 |
| DeVito + Nicholson = Best Picture |
There are often movies that grow in mind after seeing them,
but I never expected that Terms of Endearment
would be one of them. The more I think about it, the fewer negative things I
have to say about it. I’m not always a huge proponent of realism in film, but
this is a movie that seems completely realistic and benefits greatly because of
it. It’s so easy to imagine all of these characters being real people.
I think its humor is what separates it from Ordinary People in terms of quality.
That movie was just bleak from start to finish, while there are plenty of
moments of levity in Terms of Endearment,
especially in scenes involving Nicholson. Yes, it has a reputation for being a
weepy, but it’s so much more than that. There are moments that are happy, sad,
funny, and everything else, just like in life. These elements elevate it above
your standard tearjerker.
I’m still kind of surprised by how glowingly positive this
post has been, but what is there for me to criticize? I believe this was the
first Debra Winger movie I’ve seen, and I thought she was fantastic, like some
kind of hybrid between Karen Allen and Holly Hunter. Her appeal is instantly
apparent. The rest of the cast was great, the writing was great, everything was
great. Yes, America, we are somehow in a world where Terms of Endearment is the clubhouse leader for my favorite Best Picture of the 1980s. I never saw that coming.
[1] It’s
hard to believe her first appearance, as an Indian princess in Around the World in 80 Days, was 27
movies ago.
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