Ordinary People

Summary

“Why’d you let go?”

In 1980, Robert Redford stepped behind the camera for his directorial debut, Ordinary People. The film was a familial drama adapted by Alvin Sargent from the novel of the same name by Judith Guest. The film featured an excellent cast led by Donald Sutherland, Mary Tyler Moore, Judd Hirsch, and the film debut of Timothy Hutton. The next year, the film was nominated for six Academy Awards and won the Academy Awards for Best Picture, Best Director (Robert Redford,) Best Adapted Screenplay (Alvin Sargent,) and Best Supporting Actor (Timothy Hutton.) Mary Tyler Moore and Judd Hirsch were nominated for their roles and lost (Hirsch lost to Hutton, which in my opinion makes good sense. Why Hutton was nominated for Supporting Actor when he is arguably the main character of the film does not.) I believe that these Academy Award wins have in some ways worked against Ordinary People over the years. The win for Timothy Hutton was deserved thanks to his truly compelling performance, butthe Director and Best Picture awards are contentious. The problem is not with the film itself – it is actually a very good film – the problem is with the competition that the film beat out. 1980 was a great year for cinema. Martin Scorsese directed the amazing film Raging Bull, which only took home an Oscar for De Niro’s performance. The Empire Strikes Back was released in 1980 and only took home a Visual Effects award. The Shining and The Elephant Man were also released in 1980. Other classic films that came out that year include: The Blues Brothers, Airplane!, Friday the 13th, American Gigolo,The Fog, Urban Cowboy, and Dressed to Kill. Out of all of those pictures, the Academy deigned that Ordinary People was the best of the lot, which I think any rational film lover would disagree with immediately. This is not the fault of the film! It is actually a very good film that was also a very financially successful picture grossing $90 million on a $6 million budget. It is not the fault of the film that the Academy had just the year before decided to knight Kramer vs. Kramer as a superior achievement to Apocalypse Now. The Academy was clearly not voting rationally. Now that we have gotten past the acrimony of the film defeating Raging Bull and many other deserving pictures, we should be able to evaluate the film on its own terms for what it is – an expertly crafted and moving story of familial grief and dysfunction. I watched the film the other night and was struck by the elegance of the film and how emotionally compelling it was.

The plot of the picture revolves around the upper middle class Jarrett family who live in the suburbs outside Chicago. Calvin (Donald Sutherland) is married to Beth (Mary Tyler Moore.) Their teenage son Conrad (Timothy Hutton) has recently returned from a brief stay in a psychiatric hospital. He had attempted suicide and had needed psychiatric help. The family has suffered the loss of their eldest son Buck who perished in a sailing accident. Conrad was on the sailboat with Buck and has not been able to forgive himself. Buck was the most beloved member of the family, and each family member has dealt with the grief in different ways. Conrad has lost much of his passion for life and the activities he enjoyed before Buck’s passing. His love of athletic swimming has dissipated. He also finds himself socially distanced from all those friends from before. Beth has closed herself off emotionally and in some way she feels blame towards Conrad for the death of Buck. Their relationship has suffered. Calvin has stored up the emotional devastation he feels and has put on a good face to continue to fit in with his colleagues. As Conrad navigates his school year he decides to see a psychiatrist named Dr. Berger (Judd Hirsch.) As Conrad becomes closer with the Doctor, he begins to break down the barriers of guilt that have plagued him. He also develops an interest in a girl from his choir class named Jeannine Pratt (Elizabeth McGovern.) 

Ordinary People is both a coming-of-age story and a well written examination of grief and family dysfunction. Alvin Sargent’s screenplay is expertly written. Author Judith Guest lends herself to a short special feature included on the disc where she explains how satisfying the adaptation of her novel to the screen had been. Unlike many adaptations, this film is endorsed by the author as a true realization of what she had intended with the novel. Ordinary People is not a film that ever seems to want to dazzle the audience with anything overly beautiful. The cinematography by John Bailey is well-appointed, but never showy. In place of a score for the film, the picture relies on a simple sequence from Pachelbel’s Canon in D Minor. It is never overstated and used in sequences that make sense. Redford as a director seems to be only interested in telling a difficult story in the most realistic way possible. The film does not feature any sex or violence, and even cursing is rarely employed and only to dramatic effect. The film hinges on the strong central performances of the cast, and the cast are truly magnificent in the film. The best performance in the picture is certainly Timothy Hutton’s performance as Conrad. It is one of the best performances by a young actor that I have ever seen, and I understand completely why he won the Oscar. He is completely convincing in the role. Donald Sutherland is likewise wonderful in the role of the soft spoken and quietly hurting father Calvin. Mary Tyler Moore received a lot of attention and an Oscar nomination for her performance in the film. While I thought she was very good, I did not think her performance was better than those of her counterparts. Judd Hirsch is also perfectly cast in the film as Dr. Berger. Redford plays to the strengths of the actors and the strength of the script. The film is heartfelt and very true to life. It is certainly a depressing picture, but fans of well written and acted serious dramas should definitely check out Ordinary People. Highly recommended.

Video

Paramount has given Ordinary People a great looking new transfer for this release. Presented in 1080p in an aspect ratio of 1.85:1 with an MPEG-4 AVC encode, the film has never looked better. Fine detail is very good and the grain is well resolved. John Bailey’s cinematography is never showy, but it fits the mood of the film perfectly. I like the way that it captures the Fall and winter season in Illinois. I did not detect any noticeable compression artifacts. This is a well done presentation of the film that is sure to please fans of the picture.

Audio

Paramount has provided a Dolby True HD 2.0 Mono track that does solid justice to the original sound design of the film. This is a dialogue driven film that only occasionally employs Pachelbel’s music. Dialogue is crisp and clear. I didn’t have any issues with the track.

Supplements

• A Digital Copy of the Film is included.
• Swimming in the Rose Garden – Actor Timothy Hutton revisits his experiences working on them film and sheds some light on the processes used by Robert Redford to film the picture.
• Feeling is Not Selective – Author Judith Guest discusses her enjoyment of the adaptation and the ensuing awards the film won. This is a nice piece.
• Theatrical Trailer

Overall Scores:

Video – 4.5/5 

Audio – 4/5

Supplements – 2.5/5

Overall – 4.5/5

Ordinary People is a very well written familial drama that feels very true to life. While the film is certainly depressing, it is an excellent depiction of grief and the ways in which it affects people differently. The film also serves as a wonderful coming-of-age story for Timothy Hutton’s Conrad. The characters all change in ways that make sense. The script was adapted by Alvin Sargent from the book of the same name by Judith Guest. In the special features, Judith Guest fully endorses the film as a great representation of the novel she wrote. I don’t think you can get much higher praise than that when adapting a novel. The film has been unfairly maligned over the years simply because of the films that it competed against and bested at the Academy Awards. Robert Redford won the Best Director award for his excellent direction of the four lead actors in the film (three of which were nominated for Oscars.) His direction is extremely competent and never attempts to dazzle the audience or take away from the realistic material. The performances are all wonderful, but Timothy Hutton’s performance goes down as one of the most exceptional portrayals of the travails of a teenager ever put on screen. The Paramount Pictures Blu-ray release has two enjoyable special features, and the film itself has never looked better than it does here. While the rewatch value of the film may be limited due to the subject matter, fans of the film will definitely want to check out this release. If you have never seen the film and you enjoy serious drama, Ordinary People comes highly recommended.