A movie's opening scenes are often its most telling and important, and so it was with Terms of Endearment. The first few scenes of James L. Brooks' family drama are probably the best in the film. A widow who wants badly for her daughter to need her for comfort accepts her daughter's invitation to share her bed, because the daughter knows who is really in need. The sharing of the bed really establishes the relationships between Emma and her mother Aurora early on, which is vital because that's the focus of the entire movie. For every scene in which Aurora is interfering or disapproving, we can remember the very first scene where Aurora was so desperately protective of her daughter that she would wake her up to ensure she was still alive.
Shirley Maclaine is a delight to watch in this movie, especially in the opening and closing moments of the film. An unconscious smile comes over Shirley's face when her daughter fights with the husband she so strongly disapproves of. A man familiarly lays his hand on her and she looks at him with pointed indignation of someone whose been through this far too many times. She is sassy but deeply loving of her daughter Emma, which becomes a core of the movie. Towards the middle of the film, Aurora enters a forgettable and slightly forced romance with the aptly named Garrett Breedlove (Nicholson), which sidelines a lot of Maclaine's talent. Nicholson is a master class actor, but this is definitely not one of the best performances on his resume.
Emma, also played unforgettably by Debra Winger, was just as mesmerising as Maclaine. She is utterly charming and shares great chemistry with her husband, mother and children. Winger (along with Jeff Daniels and director James L. Brooks) is so effective that the mere mention of her mother can kill the mood in a moment, which is as authentic as real life can be.
Throughout the film, Emma's marriage with Flap falls apart because she suspects he is having an affair, so she jumps along with Sam (a performance that John Lithgow somehow got an Oscar nomination for). This is about where the film lost me, because even when Flap's infidelity is confirmed, I could hardly sympathise or support her because I knew she cheated on him first. However, Lithgow and Winger have one of my favourite scenes in the film - each tries to hold the other's hand and both miss by a few seconds as the other doesn't notice. Its beautifully awkward.
Towards the end, Terms of Endearment takes is famous turn for the tissues as Emma is diagnosed with terminal cancer. James L. Brooks is at the top of his game in creating beautiful, affecting moments, fully and ably supported by Winger and Maclaine. Shirley Maclaine wins the Oscar in a single scene where she shrieks for someone to manage her daughter's pain. Winger (and the actors playing her children, especially Huckleberry Fox) delivers one of the saddest movie farewells I have ever seen. You have to be made of stone not to be affected by young Fox's tears as he hugs his mother goodbye.
James L. Brooks' script has some great moments of comedy and even more of drama. For example, see where Emma's friend Patsy is trying to get around talking about cancer. Emma directly says to Patsy "Its OK to talk about the cancer" and then Brooks cuts to a new friend saying almost verbatim "so Patsy says you have cancer!" as if it were a new fishbowl or garage door mechanism. The reaction of Patsy (to spit out her food in shock) completely mirrored my own. Brooks is also masterful at directing such scenes, but throughout the film I couldn't shake the feeling that most of the scenes were strung together without making a cohesive narrative. I also found Patsy's attempt to adopt just Emma's daughter to be a poorly chosen subplot towards the end, especially where Patsy tearfully wishes she could take the little girl away. Not tasteful or effective.
But for the most part, Terms of Endearment sets out to tell a beautiful small scale family story, and it does it remarkably well. As I said, you'd have to be made of stone not to be affected by the end.
Shirley Maclaine is a delight to watch in this movie, especially in the opening and closing moments of the film. An unconscious smile comes over Shirley's face when her daughter fights with the husband she so strongly disapproves of. A man familiarly lays his hand on her and she looks at him with pointed indignation of someone whose been through this far too many times. She is sassy but deeply loving of her daughter Emma, which becomes a core of the movie. Towards the middle of the film, Aurora enters a forgettable and slightly forced romance with the aptly named Garrett Breedlove (Nicholson), which sidelines a lot of Maclaine's talent. Nicholson is a master class actor, but this is definitely not one of the best performances on his resume.
Emma, also played unforgettably by Debra Winger, was just as mesmerising as Maclaine. She is utterly charming and shares great chemistry with her husband, mother and children. Winger (along with Jeff Daniels and director James L. Brooks) is so effective that the mere mention of her mother can kill the mood in a moment, which is as authentic as real life can be.
Throughout the film, Emma's marriage with Flap falls apart because she suspects he is having an affair, so she jumps along with Sam (a performance that John Lithgow somehow got an Oscar nomination for). This is about where the film lost me, because even when Flap's infidelity is confirmed, I could hardly sympathise or support her because I knew she cheated on him first. However, Lithgow and Winger have one of my favourite scenes in the film - each tries to hold the other's hand and both miss by a few seconds as the other doesn't notice. Its beautifully awkward.
Towards the end, Terms of Endearment takes is famous turn for the tissues as Emma is diagnosed with terminal cancer. James L. Brooks is at the top of his game in creating beautiful, affecting moments, fully and ably supported by Winger and Maclaine. Shirley Maclaine wins the Oscar in a single scene where she shrieks for someone to manage her daughter's pain. Winger (and the actors playing her children, especially Huckleberry Fox) delivers one of the saddest movie farewells I have ever seen. You have to be made of stone not to be affected by young Fox's tears as he hugs his mother goodbye.
James L. Brooks' script has some great moments of comedy and even more of drama. For example, see where Emma's friend Patsy is trying to get around talking about cancer. Emma directly says to Patsy "Its OK to talk about the cancer" and then Brooks cuts to a new friend saying almost verbatim "so Patsy says you have cancer!" as if it were a new fishbowl or garage door mechanism. The reaction of Patsy (to spit out her food in shock) completely mirrored my own. Brooks is also masterful at directing such scenes, but throughout the film I couldn't shake the feeling that most of the scenes were strung together without making a cohesive narrative. I also found Patsy's attempt to adopt just Emma's daughter to be a poorly chosen subplot towards the end, especially where Patsy tearfully wishes she could take the little girl away. Not tasteful or effective.
But for the most part, Terms of Endearment sets out to tell a beautiful small scale family story, and it does it remarkably well. As I said, you'd have to be made of stone not to be affected by the end.