Director: John Wells.
Starring: Meryl Streep, Julia Roberts, Ewan McGregor, Chris Cooper, Abigail Breslin, Benedict Cumberbatch.
Running Time: 121 minutes.
Certificate: 12A.
Synopsis: A look at the lives of the strong-willed women of the Weston family, whose paths have diverged until a family crisis brings them back to the Oklahoma house they grew up in and to the dysfunctional woman who raised them.
There are films out there (particularly at this time of year) which scream, “We’re going for the Oscar!” and aren’t afraid to show it. This ensemble drama from director John Wells and based on screenwriter Tracey Letts’ Pultizer Prize-winning stage play, is one such film.
Boasting an all-star cast that includes Ewan McGregor, Abigail Breslin, Sam Shepard, Juliette Lewis, Julia Roberts, Benedict Cumberbatch, Dermot Mulroney, Chris Cooper and Meryl Streep, AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY revolves around a very dysfunctional family that comes together following a tragedy in rural middle America. With a running time of two hours plus and the ‘action’ largely revolving around a bunch of people talking around a dinner table, the story perhaps doesn’t play out as well cinematically as it may have on stage, which it did so gloriously on Broadway at the tail end of the last decade. The setup during the first hour drags almost unbearably, but a much more solid and rewarding second half more than makes up for it.
The film’s biggest asset is indeed its cast – brilliantly assembled by Wells – who all feast upon Letts’ delicious dialogue from beginning to end. The script is funny, moving and at certain points very dark, with more than a few unexpected twists and turns arising throughout. Streep is, as expected, outstanding in the lead as the cancer-ridden matriarch of the family, but it is Julia Roberts who is the revelation, surprising in the role of dominant daughter Barbara, forced to unite her estranged family while at the same time trying to come to terms with her own personal demons. Cumberbatch and McGregor are also surprisingly perfectly cast.
AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY certainly won’t please everyone, but there’s enough on offer here for it to stand tall and compete in a season bumper-packed full of exceptionally strong awards fodder.
[usr=4] AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY is released in UK cinemas on Friday 24th, January 2014.
