August: Osage County

The suicide of alcoholic poet Beverly Weston (Sam Shepard) brings his family together for a funeral in rural Oklahoma. His widow, Violet (Meryl Streep), is a shamelessly sharp-tongued pill addict suffering from oral cancer. Oldest daughter Barbara (Julia Roberts) is as headstrong as her mother, bringing her into conflict with her husband (Ewan McGregor) and teenage daughter (Abigail Breslin) alike. Middle daughter Ivy (Julianne Nicholson), who stayed behind in Oklahoma, is viewed as a disappointment and is secretly in love with her cousin, Little Charles (Benedict Cumberbatch). Youngest daughter Karen (Juliette Lewis), who fled to Florida, is oblivious to the sleazy behavior of her new fiancé, Steve (Dermot Mulroney). Together, the family tries to pick up the pieces, but the secrets they have been keeping from one another frequently threaten to boil over.

Tracy Letts’ adaptation of his Pulitzer-winning play pushes the boundaries of how much misery a film can inflict upon an audience without losing its attention. Impeccably acted and darkly comedic with a mean streak a mile wide, August: Osage County is an emotionally wrenching melodrama whose staginess sometimes gets the better of it.

To put it simply, subtlety is not in Letts’ lexicon. His characterization verges toward universally toxic, and while this makes for bold and funny moments, it takes a stellar cast to turn the Westons from caricatures to characters. A few of them are clear in their alignment (Chris Cooper’s easygoing elder Charles is hard to dislike while Mulroney’s Steve has no redeeming qualities), but most reveal in their complexity. The always reliable Streep attacks her role with aplomb, showing Violet to be as much a victim of circumstance as a selfish manipulator. Roberts does some of her best dramatic work as the foul-mouthed Barbara, whose attempts to keep her family together fail despite the force of her personality. Cumberbatch is surprisingly effective going against type as Little Charles comes across as a good-natured ne’er do well, and Margo Martindale is solid as his cynical, disapproving mother. On the other hand, McGregor and Breslin feel underutilized, a shame given their talents.

If you can look past the strength of the acting – admittedly, no easy task – what remains is decidedly less impressive. August: Osage County is a decidedly talky film with little in the way of plot or inertia. Though there are a few shots of the desolate plains, the setting comes across as occasional window dressing rather than a significant part of the proceedings, and we can’t accept Osage as some kind of godforsaken place unless we see more of it. John Wells, a perfectly competent television director (ER and The West Wing), doesn’t dazzle anyone with technique here. The film feels small and a bit claustrophobic at times and could benefit from more texture.

August: Osage County is one of those films that resonates because it punishes. Watching it will leave you in awe of the cast and emotionally drained. It isn’t until after the fact that you will wonder what it all added up to.

7.75/10