Fresh
With the skill of a practiced surgeon, Redford gradually peels away the protective layers of his characters, exposing their flaws, their darkest fears and ultimately, their innermost feelings.
Kathleen Carroll, New York Daily News
Ordinary People
Everything is in its proper place... except the past.
1980 · 2h 4m · R
Drama
Directed by
Robert Redford
Overview
Beth, Calvin, and their son Conrad are living in the aftermath of the death of the other son. Conrad is overcome by grief and misplaced guilt to the extent of a suicide attempt. He is in therapy. Beth had always preferred his brother and is having difficulty being supportive to Conrad. Calvin is trapped between the two trying to hold the family together.
Director and cast
- Robert Redford Director
- Donald Sutherland as Calvin Jarrett
- Mary Tyler Moore as Beth Jarrett
- Judd Hirsch as Dr. Tyrone C. Berger
- Timothy Hutton as Conrad Jarrett
- M. Emmet Walsh as Coach Salan
- Elizabeth McGovern as Jeannine Pratt
- Dinah Manoff as Karen
- Fredric Lehne as Lazenby
- James B. Sikking as Ray Hanley
- Basil Hoffman as Sloan
Critics on Rotten Tomatoes
Top critics, in their words
89%
Tomatometer
Fresh
What Redford accomplishes is to provide an excellent portrait of how well families can hide their inner turmoil from the prying eyes of outsiders.
James Berardinelli, ReelViews
Fresh
An austere and delicate examination of the ways in which a likable family falters under pressure and struggles, with ambiguous results, to renew itself.
Richard Schickel, TIME Magazine
Fresh
A powerfully intimate domestic drama.
Todd McCarthy, Variety
Rotten
The film looks austere and serious, rather as if it had been shot inside a Frigidaire, and the oppressiveness of the images tends to strangle laughter, even at the most absurd excesses of Alvin Sargent's script.
Dave Kehr, Chicago Reader
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Comments
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