Kevin returns to Maine and Olive is able to convince him to stay over and attend Christopher's wedding-rehearsal dinner. Olive clashes with the bride's mother and scares the flower girl at the ...
Divorced single mom Mildred Pierce decides to open a restaurant business, which tears at the already-strained relationship with her ambitious elder daughter, Veda.
Yonkers Mayor Nick Wasicsko takes office in 1987 and has to deal with the serious subject of the building of public housing in the white, middle class side of the town.
Quarry, a disillusioned Vietnam War vet, returns home to Memphis in 1972 only to find rejection and scrutiny at every step. A mysterious man known only as The Broker gives him an offer he can't refuse - to work for him as a hitman.
The apparently perfect lives of upper-class mothers, at a prestigious elementary school, unravel to the point of murder when a single-mother moves to their quaint Californian beach town.
Playwright Tony Kushner adapted his political epic about the A.I.D.S. crisis during the mid 1980s and centers the story around a group of separate but connected individuals.
A look at a seemingly placid New England town that is actually wrought with illicit affairs, crime and tragedy, all told through the lens of Olive, whose wicked wit and harsh demeanor mask a warm but troubled heart and staunch moral center. The story spans 25 years and focuses on Olive's relationships with her husband, Henry, the good-hearted and kindly town pharmacist; their son, Christopher, who resents his mother's approach to parenting; and other members of their community.Written by
HBO
John Gallagher Jr. auditioned for both the roles of adult Christopher Kitteridge and adult Kevin Coulson, before getting cast as Christopher Kitteridge. See more »
Family dysfunction reigns supreme in this oft-uncomfortable psycho-drama set in bucolic Maine over the course of 25 recent years. Nice, gentle, middle-aged pharmacist and sensitive, caring man married to a hard=edged, stern and very often mean schoolteacher who knows she is sick and "a beast" but cannot change her hurtful and often hateful ways, even to her own son who is obviously more like his dad, a nice boy scarred forever by his mother's mean words and insensitive nature. Depression "runs" in her family, she said, and it is easy to spot throughout in her as she suffers progressively from it as the story develops.
Frances McDormand shines bright in her demanding role as the hard-as-nails wife and mother who finds it so hard to show love or even "like" to her family, and she is always more than ready with a scathing snipe no matter the occasion or person, even at their son's wedding. Richard Jenkins is also very impressive as her good guy husband who is always nice, friendly and comforting to those around him who need it most. His Yin to her Yang, totally.
Coastal Massachusetts scenery subbing for Maine is stunning and beautifully shot. The script, though excellent and always engrossing, is often discomforting to watch, as there is little levity in it and things often get very serious and mean-spirited. No everyman crowd-pleaser this one, but it is very intelligently done and packs a hard and lasting, dysfunctional family/mental health punch for viewers expecting more from premium channel TV than silly laughs and chuckles from junk programming. Not many laughs here, just quality storytelling you will not easily forget.
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Family dysfunction reigns supreme in this oft-uncomfortable psycho-drama set in bucolic Maine over the course of 25 recent years. Nice, gentle, middle-aged pharmacist and sensitive, caring man married to a hard=edged, stern and very often mean schoolteacher who knows she is sick and "a beast" but cannot change her hurtful and often hateful ways, even to her own son who is obviously more like his dad, a nice boy scarred forever by his mother's mean words and insensitive nature. Depression "runs" in her family, she said, and it is easy to spot throughout in her as she suffers progressively from it as the story develops.
Frances McDormand shines bright in her demanding role as the hard-as-nails wife and mother who finds it so hard to show love or even "like" to her family, and she is always more than ready with a scathing snipe no matter the occasion or person, even at their son's wedding. Richard Jenkins is also very impressive as her good guy husband who is always nice, friendly and comforting to those around him who need it most. His Yin to her Yang, totally.
Coastal Massachusetts scenery subbing for Maine is stunning and beautifully shot. The script, though excellent and always engrossing, is often discomforting to watch, as there is little levity in it and things often get very serious and mean-spirited. No everyman crowd-pleaser this one, but it is very intelligently done and packs a hard and lasting, dysfunctional family/mental health punch for viewers expecting more from premium channel TV than silly laughs and chuckles from junk programming. Not many laughs here, just quality storytelling you will not easily forget.