Cinema Revisited: Ordinary People (1980)
Directed by Robert Redford. Cast: Timothy Hutton, Donald Sutherland, Mary Tyler Moore, Judd Hirsch, Elizabeth McGovern, M. Emmett Walsh. Running time 125 minutes. Released September 19, 1980.
Timothy Hutton, son of actor Jim Hutton, started his long (and continuing) acting career with this bravura performance as Conrad, a disconnected youth filled with guilt-ridden angst after his brother is drowned while they're together. He attempted suicide and recovered, but life remains a struggle. Mary Tyler Moore drops the cheery personal for which she'd been known for 20 years, and explores the role as the mother, who preferred the other child and has trouble connecting to Conrad. Donald Sutherland is the father, trying hard to keep the family together and move on from the tragedy. First-time director Robert Redford chronicles all of this artfully. The result is one of the very best films of its kind.
Judith Guest's book deeply investigated the complexity of each character and the actors do the same. Mary Tyler Moore would forever consider this performance her high water mark. Spending the past two decades conquering television with hit series on which she was surrounded by funny people in lighthearted situations, Mary's completely enveloping herself in the role of a bitter, withdrawn woman who is as much a victim as those around her, resulted in an Oscar nomination. Timothy Hutton won for his captivating performance as Conrad. Judd Hirsch, who plays Conrad's understanding therapist, was also nominated. First time director Redford won, as did the film for Best Pictures.
In one of the Academy's biggest snubs, Donald Sutherland was not even nominated for his incredible performance as the father who has to be the strongest character, but realizes he is not. He not only needs to understand and relate to his wife and son, he must try to mediate and keep them connected, while dealing with his own deep grief.
The family is considered upper middle class, but living in a large house and surrounded by people who talk stocks and investments, they seem nestled quite comfortably in the throes of the upper class. The story seems to indicate that they were never the perfect nuclear family, but were better able to convey such a concept, and perhaps believe it themselves, before their other son died. At one point Sutherland's character admits, "I used to think I was a lucky man before the accident. But maybe the truth is life is an accident. Because now I just see the two of them drifting away from both me and each other, and I just stand there watching."
Sutherland stands with power of conviction as he exhibits things that he wants to discuss but what his wife wants to black out and forget. Hutton connects with a fellow depressive, played by Elizabeth McGovern (then a student at Julliard who shot her scenes on Saturdays only), and reels after her suicide, the following scene in the therapist's office being the most emotionally charged one in the film.
As heavily dramatic as this film is, it still manages to draw in the viewer and be entertaining on that level. The dialog, the actors, Redford's direction, and the overall mood seem to resonate at every turn. The way Redford uses darkness, how he switches from close-ups and medium shots, the way his scenes transition by the passing of trains and busses --- all of these filmmaking techniques are fairly standard ones. It is how he uses them that makes the story most effective. When Sutherland looks at Mary Tyler Moore and admits he doesn't love her anymore, it is impossible for the viewer to not feel the emotion of both characters.
"Ordinary People" was made during the hangover period, after the superb cinematic decade of the 1970s had ended but before the 80s period of marketing over creativity truly took over. As that decade goes, "Ordinary People" rests alongside that same year's "Raging Bull" as a high water mark.