August: Osage County
August: Osage County is a dramatic movie version of a stage play about the women of a family in Oklahoma. It stars Meryl Streep and Julia Roberts (who both received Oscar nominations for their work), and other talented actors in a film that is heavy on dialogue and stress from family. Filmed primarily in Oklahoma, the movie showcases the south (for better or worse), differences in generations (Abigail Breslin is the youngest of the family), and not so gently deals with family matters (some issues get thrown in each other’s faces and some is for mature audiences). I chose to watch this to see just how captivating Streep and Roberts are, and they really are. Watching both made me feel so uncomfortable for the family, hoping that they could get some help that they clearly need, and then realized it was movie- they do not act like other roles they have had before. Due to the talented cast (especially Chris Cooper), the emotions they showed seemed real, and I would cheer when there was any kind of brevity. If you are feeling the need to learn too much about a dysfunctional family played by some great actors, and do not need many laughs (very few), give August: Osage County a viewing (bonus points if you watch it in August like I did).
2013, 14A, 2h 1m
Distributor – Weinstein Company
Budget – $37 million
Cast & Crew
Director John Wells previously directed The Company Men (2010 drama with Ben Affleck), and would go on to direct Burnt (2015 drama with Bradley Cooper), and executive produce the series Shameless (2011-2016 dramatic comedy starring William H. Macy). The play and the adapted screenplay were both written by Tracy Letts who previously had both duties for Killer Joe (the film version in 2011 starred Matthew McConaughey in a crime drama), and wrote the play Superior Donuts in 2008 which is now a comedic series about a local doughnut shop in a changing neighborhood. Meryl Streep was previously in Hope Springs (2012 comedy with Tommy Lee Jones) and would next be in The Giver (2014 dramatic sci-fi with Jeff Bridges). Julia Roberts was previously in Mirror Mirror (2012 adventure, a different take on the Snow White tale by director Tarsem Singh) and was next in Secret in Their Eyes (2015 mystery with Chiwetel Ejiofor and Nicole Kidman). Also starring in the film is Chris Cooper (The Company You Keep), Ewan McGregor (Jack the Giant Slayer), Juliette Lewis (Open Road), and Benedict Cumberbatch (12 Years a Slave).