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Terms of Endearment (1983)

 -  Comedy | Drama  -  9 December 1983 (USA)
7.3
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Ratings: 7.3/10 from 26,913 users   Metascore: 79/100
Reviews: 131 user | 41 critic | 10 from Metacritic.com

Aurora and Emma are mother and daughter who march to different drummers. Beginning with Emma's marriage, Aurora shows how difficult and loving she can be. The movie covers several years of ... See full summary »

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Title: Terms of Endearment (1983)

Terms of Endearment (1983) on IMDb 7.3/10

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Won 5 Oscars. Another 29 wins & 10 nominations. See more awards »

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Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
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Betty King ...
Rosie Dunlop (as Betty R. King)
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Shane Serwin ...
Megan Morris ...
Tara Yeakey ...
Baby Melanie
Norman Bennett ...
Edward Johnson
Jennifer Josey ...
Young Emma
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Storyline

Aurora and Emma are mother and daughter who march to different drummers. Beginning with Emma's marriage, Aurora shows how difficult and loving she can be. The movie covers several years of their lives as each finds different reasons to go on living and find joy. Aurora's interludes with Garrett Breedlove, retired astronaut and next door neighbor are quite striking. In the end, different people show their love in very different ways. Written by John Vogel <jlvogel@comcast.net>

Plot Summary | Add Synopsis

Taglines:

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

Genres:

Comedy | Drama

Certificate:

R | See all certifications »

Parents Guide:

 »
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Details

Country:

Language:

Release Date:

9 December 1983 (USA)  »

Also Known As:

La fuerza del cariƱo  »

Box Office

Budget:

$8,000,000 (estimated)

Gross:

$108,423,489 (USA)
 »

Company Credits

Production Co:

 »
Show detailed on  »

Technical Specs

Runtime:

Sound Mix:

Color:

(Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1
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Did You Know?

Trivia

'James L Brooks' was the fourth director to win an Academy Award for direction on debut. Delbert Mann' was the first for Marty whilst Jerome Robbins was the second for West Side Story. Others have been Robert Redford for Ordinary People and Kevin Costner for Dances with Wolves. See more »

Goofs

While traveling in the car in Texas, the background shows warehouses from "Miller & Paine", a department store that didn't exist in Texas (but did in Lincoln, Nebraska, where the scene was filmed). See more »

Quotes

Patsy Clark: You're my touchstone, Emma!
See more »

Connections

Featured in The 75th Annual Academy Awards (2003) See more »

Soundtracks

"Gee, Officer Krupke"
(1961)
From "West Side Story"
Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim
Music by Leonard Bernstein
Courtesy of Amberson Enterprises, Inc.
See more »

Frequently Asked Questions

See more (Spoiler Alert!) »

User Reviews

 
Quirky characters who eventually grow on you
30 November 2002 | by (las vegas, nv) – See all my reviews

The shifty, funny/serious tone of "Terms Of Endearment" caught a lot of people off guard in 1983 and word-of-mouth about it being a seriously good tearjerker/comedy was strong (opening near Christmas probably didn't hurt it come Oscar time either!). But since then, TV sitcoms have been mining this kind of flippant, edgy, raw sense of dynamics ("Roseanne" comes to mind), and "Terms" doesn't seem as fresh. Watching it again the other night, I couldn't help feeling that some of the juice was missing, or that Shirley MacLaine's Aurora Greenway was actually more of an irritant than a sympathetic harridan. But on closer inspection, the lives of these characters are quite endearing, and the tender music on the soundtrack always underlines a poignant scene at just the right moment. Vivid Debra Winger is incredible as MacLaine's daughter, as are John Lithgow, Jeff Daniels, Jack Nicholson, and Danny DeVito (in a small but telling part). As for MacLaine, I think she makes a few missteps in her characterization, and I didn't like the scene where she leaves her own birthday party in a huff and finds herself at Nicholson's door--it feels put on--or her famous scene with Jack driving on the beach, which is highly improbable. However, her determined will and loving possessiveness/detachment towards her daughter makes her a complicated and colorful bundle of nerves. The picture is flawed, yet has scenes of worth and love, many memorable lines of dialogue, and shows a real skill for balancing different moods. *** from ****


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