Terms of Endearment (1983)

Director:

James L. Brooks

Writers:

Larry McMurtry (novel)
James L. Brooks (screenplay)

Release Date:

9 December 1983 (USA)

Genre:

Romance | Comedy | Drama

Tagline:

Come to Laugh, Come to Cry, Come to Care, Come to Terms.

Plot:

Aurora and Emma are mother and daughter who march to different drummers. Beginning with Emma's marriage...

Plot Keywords:

Astronaut | Neighbor | Marriage | Love | Vaccination

Awards:

Won 5 Oscars. Another 25 wins & 10 nominations

Cast

Shirley MacLaine	...	Aurora Greenway
Debra Winger	...	Emma Horton
Jack Nicholson	...	Garrett Breedlove
Danny DeVito	...	Vernon Dahlart
Jeff Daniels	...	Flap Horton
John Lithgow	...	Sam Burns
Lisa Hart Carroll	...	Patsy Clark
Betty King	...	Rosie Dunlop (as Betty R. King)
Huckleberry Fox	...	Teddy Horton
Troy Bishop	...	Tommy Horton
Shane Serwin	...	Younger Tommy Horton
Megan Morris	...	Melanie Horton
Tara Yeakey	...	Baby Melanie
Norman Bennett	...	Edward Johnson
Jennifer Josey	...	Young Emma

Runtime:

132 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Iceland:L | Canada:14A (Canadian Home Video rating) | Brazil:14 | South Korea:18 | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Chile:14 | Finland:K-12 | Norway:12 | Peru:14 | Sweden:7 | UK:15 | USA:PG (#27173) (re-rating on appeal) | USA:R (original rating) | West Germany:12 | Singapore:PG

Filming Locations:

1148 Heights Blvd., Houston, Texas, USA

Company:

Paramount Pictures

Trivia:

John Lithgow was called in to replace another actor and his part was filmed in only three days during a break from filming for Footloose (1984).

Goofs:

Continuity: When Aurora's skirt changes between shots after she comes back from the hospital visiting Emma. As she walks up to the hotel desk, she has one skirt on, but when she walks through the lobby into the pool area, where Tommy and Teddy threaten to get her wet, she has a different skirt on.

Quotes:

Emma Horton: [to her son] OK, you're allowed to say one mean thing to me a year. That'll do until you're 10.

Movie Connections:

Spoofed in Family Guy Presents Stewie Griffin: The Untold Story (2005) (V)

Soundtrack:

Rock-a-Bye Your Baby with a Dixie Melody

A little heavy, but with astonishing performances.

A well-observed, well-made drama (with occasional comedic moments), that may not be exactly "high art" (it's neither profound nor original), but DOES feature some great acting and manages to pull you in.

Debra Winger gives an extraordinary performance; she has a naturalness and expressiveness that you rarely see on the screen. When her character is happy, her whole face brightens up and her joy becomes infectious; when she's sad or confused or embarrassed, the emotions come across strongly, although she never goes over the top. Considering that she lost the Oscar to her co-star, Shirley MacLaine, who is reasonably good but far more one-note, I'd say we had a major Academy Award injustice there. Jack Nicholson is fun to watch and has some amusing lines, and most supporting roles, like those played by John Lithgow and Danny De Vito, are also first-rate and completely believable.

So overall it's a good film, directed almost flawlessly, although in the final 20 minutes it needlessly wallows in melodrama. (***)