1980's Ordinary People is a masterpiece. The story is about how grief can impact and tear apart a family, so this film is a very hard watch and it will most likely leave the viewer in an emotional state. That being said, this film is powerful because of the themes the movie tackles and because of four heartfelt, emotionally-driven acting performances.Tragedy is something every family deals with. Someone dies, thus turning the world into pieces for families. Many families also have underlying problems that they choose to ignore or they cannot see, but are forced to confront these problems when tragedy strikes as it occurs with this one particular family, the Jarrett family. That is the whole essence of this movie, how these very real characters confront their issues.By 1980, Robert Redford was a full-fledged movie star. He was in such movies like Bonnie and Clyde and The Sting. The time was ripe for Redford to make his directorial debut. I am always hesitant about actors becoming directors, but Redford shows right away that he knows how to direct and bring the best out of his actors. You generally won't get a better directorial debut than what Redford did with this film. He was so good, he deservedly won the Academy Award for Best Director.Based on a book by Judith Guest, this story tackles what it's like to deal with grief. Beth (Mary Tyler Moore), Calvin (Donald Sutherland), and their son Conrad (Timothy Hutton) are grieving after the other son was tragically killed. Conrad is overcome with guilt because he feels like it is his fault his brother was killed, and he is prone to suicide attempts. In order to deal with his grief, he sees a therapist, Dr. Berger (Judd Hirsch). Beth feels indifferent towards Conrad because she preferred his brother more, so it is up to Calvin to try and hold what is left of the family together.This is one of the movies need to be shown in film classes when it comes to acting because every single actor brought their A-game. They really make you believe that these actors are just ordinary people, instead of well-received actors. Mary Tyler Moore, known for her work with The Mary Tyler Show, is perfectly cast. She does a great job masking her feelings behind her suburban, homebody facade. She plays the Betty Crocker type well, but you see the selfishness of her character because of her preference with her older deceased son. Timothy Hutton makes his film debut here and ended up winning an Oscar for his moving portrayal of Conrad. His character is tortured, is filled to the brim with grief and guilt, and is an outcast at school because of his suicide attempt (although he has two "girlfriends" to help him). I liked the Judd Hirsch character, Dr. Berger because of his optimistic views. His portrayal as a psychologist is one of the very few portrayals that showed the profession in a positive light at the time. Finally, Donald Sutherland delivers another winning performance as Calvin. Calvin wants to do and feel the right things, but does so in an awkward manner. Out of all the characters, his character took the saddest turn of the movie because after a lengthy marriage with this wife, he begins to question their love for the first time.Ordinary People is no easy watch. The film starts with an emotional standoff between the three Jarrett family members, and it gets more emotional from there. Alvin Sargent's script, which he adapted so well, tackled the ideas of what it means to love and how grief affects people. Each character is given a purpose in the film, and the chance to question their motives and the motives of others. It's also a movie about change and how it can affect you for the better or for the worst. The acting is a tour-de-force and one of the better acting ensembles of 1980. Robert Redford created a movie that is slow-paced, but emotional, perceptive, and very intelligent. This film is not about actors, but about ordinary people.My Grade: A-

We all deal with grief differently, it is a stress like no other in life. In this story a son is killed in a sailing accident, and we get to see how a father, mother and brother deal with the stress. Grief can unmask things about people that would otherwise remain unseen; sometimes it unveils an ugliness far beyond expectations.When one of two sons, Buck dies, his brother becomes suicidally depressed. His mother, on the other hand, pulls the old ostrich bit- head in the sand with the old "I don't want to talk about it" routine. The dopey but likable father goes all Rodney King on us with the "Can't we all just , get along?"The dialogue is what makes this movie great. When the surviving son tries to talk with his mother, it is so awkward and cringe inducing, it is hard to watch. It is obvious that the guy is struggling, and is looking for a little understanding from mom. The kid finds some understanding from a shrink, which can happen, but his mom is no help at all. She is much more worried about the way things look, than the way her son feels. "I had to find out you quit the swim team from Beth Meyerson???, WHAT WILL THE NEIGHBORS THINK?"She lives in a flat out mansion, spends her time golfing and "doing lunch", can obviously afford cosmetic surgery (wink wink), and has a great bod for a woman of her age. Yet, all she worries about is her vacations, clothing, image, in short herself. Look up "rich bitch" in the dictionary and there is an image of her, retouched of course.Some of the negative reviews I have read seem to miss the point. People react differently to grief, sometimes even in a bad way, and yes, it can be the mother who can behave badly. Granted, this is not the norm, but it does occur. That is what makes this so interesting, we get to see an unusual reaction from an unusual family member. Some viewers are so indoctrinated into the PC world of feminist scrip writing that it seems to melt they're butch-wax when they see anybody but the adult male portrayed as the villain.In this piece , the father and son are the ones with the wisdom and understanding, and it is the female that wears the black hat. This was made in 1980, and in the 90s this type of writing became practically illegal, or at least never green lighted by a studio. They don't make them like this anymore, the PC police would not approve.

This movie is such a sad tale of losing a child and family beginning to rip apart. I can watch this film over and over and not get tired. It has a message on how we feel when we lose someone and who it's difficult to come to terms with it.Amazing well done performances by Donald Sutherland and Mary Tyler Moore playing this upper class couple and Timothy Hutton in his supporting role as the guilt strict son. The film marks Robert Redford direct-oral debut after a decade being in the face of the camera going on to win Best Picture at the 1981 Oscars and Tinothy Hutton winning for Supporting Actor in a Role.

The novel is a psychological drama about a family seemingly having everything yet torn apart at the seams. The Jarretts are well settled and well fixed in the Chicagoland suburbs until a boating accident leaves one son dead and the other son mentally at wits end because he is of the opinion he could have saved his brother had he tried harder. Once the younger son is hospitalized for a suicide attempt the film opens as the bitter mother brilliantly portrayed by Mary Tyler Moore deals with her anxiety toward her now mentally at wits end son brilliantly portrayed by Timothy Hutton. His well meaning father played by Donald Sutherland recruits the aid of a psychiatrist played by Judd Hirsch to complete the principal cast. Supporting the younger son in his quest to return to normalcy are M. Emmett Walsh as his school coach and Elizabeth McGovern as agirl of his age interested in his company. Driving yet another wedge between father and mother beyond how to best deal with their one surviving son is their socieoconomic background differences which slowly come to light as the film brilliantly progresses. Because more commercial films include travelogues of the city of Chicago not of suburban Chicagoland another strong point of the film is its excellent travelogue of suburban Chicagoland's gold coast northern suburbs.