Movie Review: Ordinary People (1980)

This won the Academy Award for Best Picture 1980. Based on the cover I thought I wouldn't like it, but I was excited to see Donald Sutherland and Mary Tyler Moore.




But I guess don't judge a movie by it's cover, because this one was really really good. It is the directorial debut of Robert Redford, and he deserved the Academy Award that he won for that too.

The son, Conrad, is depressed, and decides to see a counselor. As the movie unfolds, we learn it is because he tried to commit suicide recently, because his brother died in a boating accident. The whole family, which consists of the dad and mom, are all dealing with the issue in different ways. The counselor actually helps Conrad quite a bit, and the father is helped too. The mother seems to be only concerned about keeping the status quo in their circle of friends, in other words "nothing's wrong". And she shows no love to Conrad. And their state of denial is totally torn apart as they deal with their stuff in the movie.

But anyway, it's good. It really competes for being one of the best. I'm surprised because it's not flashy or anything - I actually had never heard of it before.