Ordinary People (1980)
Decided to start watching all of the Oscar best picture winners, in order. I hadn’t heard of some of these movies, some I love and have seen multiple times already and I actively hate others, planning to never watch them again. Fair warning, there will be spoilers in these and other reviews to help explain my point of view.
Ordinary People is another quite surprising Best Picture winner. Similar to Kramer vs. Kramer, it is a quiet film that is driven by conversation, rather than action, with a focus on family drama. It s a bit surprising that someone read the book and saw anything cinematic in it, since not much happens.
This is the story of the Jarrets, an upper-middle-class family who are dealing with the death of one son and the attempted suicide of their remaining son. Timothy Hutton plays the latter son, Conrad, whose pain at the loss of his brother oozes through the screen. The way he carries and expresses himself makes it clear that he not only wishes he were dead, but that he feels that everyone around him wishes he were dead as well. He knows his mother doesn’t love him and that she feels that if one of her sons had to die, Conrad should have been that son. Hutton’s performance is excellent and he deserved his Oscar win, although many rightfully argue that he should have competed as Best Actor, rather than Supporting. Equally great are Mary Tyler Moore and Donald Sutherland as his parents. Moore’s Beth is the epitome of the abrasive WASP archetype, someone who is happiest when everyone and everything is perfect, even if that perfection is surface-level only. Beth clearly hates both Conrad and her husband Calvin and the story doesn’t give her the opportunity for redemption, so we are glad we she makes the correct decision to leave her family so Conrad and Calvin can forge a life for themselves without her toxic presence. Calvin is mostly ineffective; he loves Conrad and does what he can to let him know that, but he stands up to Beth only at the very end, when he should have forced her hand much earlier on, if only to spare Conrad much of the pain he endured due to Beth’s lack of affection or even basic concern. We learn that Beth didn’t visit Conrad in the hospital after his suicide attempt, which is just inexcusable. If she had done so because seeingher son like that would have been too painful, ok fine, but that wasn’t the reason. She simply had no desire to do so since Conrad isn’t important to her, full stop. In the end, I can appreciate Beth’s lack of redemption because it wouldn’t been earned; at no point does she do anything remotely kind or show any feeling other than disdain, disgust and anger.
Did this movie deserve to win? Maybe not. It was up against some great movies including Raging Bull, Coal Miner’s Daughter and The Elephant Man, any one of which seems like a much better choice for Best Picture. Many people consider it to be one of the most undeserving wins, which I cannot say I disagree with, even though I think the film is well-made and is one that I have watched many times over the years. Ordinary People is a great movie, but not necessarily a Best Picture winner, especailly considering aht it was up against. Having said that, I have to give it 3.5 out of 5 stars due to the excellent performances.
