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Review
Archives
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Today's
Date is:
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Terms
of Endearment
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Reviewed
by: |
Todd
Gray |
| Genre: |
Drama |
| Video: |
Anamorphic
Widescreen |
| Audio: |
English
(Dolby Digital 5.1) French (Mono 2.0) |
| Language: |
English,
French |
| Subtitle: |
English
|
| Length: |
2
hours and 12 minutes |
| Rating: |
PG |
| Release
Date: |
4-10-2001 |
| Studio: |
Paramount |
| Commentary:
|
Director
James L. Brooks, co-producer Penny Finkelman Cox, and production
designer Polly Platt |
| Documentaries:
|
None |
| Featurettes:
|
None |
| Filmography/Biography:
|
None |
|
Interviews: |
None |
| Trailers/TV
Spots: |
Original
Theatrical TrailerNone |
| Alternate/Deleted
Scenes: |
None |
| Music
Video: |
None |
| Other:
|
Scene
Selction |
| Cast
and Crew: |
Shirley McLaine,
Jack Nicholson, Debra Winger, Jeff Daniels, and Danny Devito |
| Screenplay
by: |
Written by:
James L. Brooks from a book by Larry McMurtry |
| Produced
by: |
James L. Brooks, Penny
Finkelman Cox, and Martin Jurow |
| Directed
By: |
James L. Brooks |
| Music: |
Michael Gore |
| The
Review: |
This film
begins with a young Emma (played later by Debra Winger), and
shows us the strong ties that are between Mother and Daughter.
Aurora (Shirley McLaine) plays Emma's mother, a woman that has
a lot of love to give, but may not really know how to express
her love in a way that is fit. The film quickly goes from the
childhood of Emma to the marriage of Emma. She is marrying a
man by the name of Flip Horton (Jeff Daniels), much to her mother's
disapproval. The next turn in events is Emma and Flip moving
away from their home town, to another city where they feel that
Aurora will not be able to keep such a close eye on them, and
in turn judge and criticize everything that they are doing.
Emma wants a life of her own with the man she loves, and does
not want to be watched so closely anymore. In their new town
Emma and Flip start to see their family expand a little larger
than what they could have hoped for and in turn they start to
have some financial trouble. This only adds to the fact that
Flip is having an affair. In turn Emma starts to have an affair
with a banker (John Lithgow). Trouble mounts higher when Emma
finds out that she is ill, and her life may be in jeopardy.
Back at home with Aurora, we see a new neighbor move in to town,
a retired astronaut by the name of Garrett Breedlove (Jack Nicholson).
Aurora finds that this man will not take no for an answer, and
starts to wear down her irritability towards him. The film does
seem to take a quick turn from comedy to a drama that is not
unlike a soap opera, but it does so smoothly and succeeds due
to the fact that you care about these characters, and what happens
to them. There may be an illness and other plot points to try
and twist your interest into sympathy for these people, but
when you do feel sympathy you know that the filmmaker has done
a good job and has gotten the audience to care what the outcomes
of these ordinary peoples lives are going to be. |
| Image
and Sound |
The picture
quality on this film is pretty good for an older film. Generally
DVDs that are done from older films tend to look a little more
grainy, but this one made the transition rather nicely. The
picture quality is not one of the best on the market, but it
does do well with the content. The brighter colors are more
vivid, giving it an over all good look. The sound for this film
is in Dolby Digital 5.1. This is a great sound set-up for an
action film, but for a drama such as this, there is not a whole
lot of sound to be made. The spot where the 5.1 really stands
out is with the score for the film. It fills the quiet nicely,
and does not overpower the sound at all. The dialogue is also
very crisp and clear, which is a good thing due to the fact
that this film is very heavily dependent on what the characters
have to say to one another. |
| The
Extras |
As with
other releases from Paramount, this film is a bare bones version
of what the DVD format was created for. Anyone looking to get
films crammed full of extras would be well advised to look elsewhere,
because the viewer will only get the bare minimum on this release.
There is the omnipresent scene selection. There is also the
original theatrical trailer from 1983. The only "feature" that
will appeal to all the die-hard fans of this film will be that
of the commentary track. This is the only feature on the DVD
that shows some of the work put into the film. |
| Commentary |
James L.
Brooks, Penny Finkelman Cox, and production designer Polly Platt
provide the commentary track for this film. The three of them
seem to remember doing the film as if it were only a short time
ago. In reality it was 1983 when this film was first released,
yet the stories that they tell are still very fresh in their
minds. These three fill the commentary track with stories of
making the film, both what is seen on screen, and things that
the audience would never see. There are also gaps in the conversation
that would signify that they are a little too into watching
the film to give all the feedback that is in a normal commentary
track. This track still provides interesting information and
is worth a listen for those interested in some of the making
of the film. |
| Final
Words: |
This film
is now a classic, and an award winner. With good cause as well.
The director does a terrific job making the audience care about
the characters, which is a rarity in modern film. The film also
succeeds on its own merit. It does not rely on special effects
or any manipulative devices to trick you into caring. The DVD
is very standard, and does not have enough to satisfy the hunger
for anyone who craves DVDs chock full of extras. This film is
one that will find a way into many peoples collection, just
so they will be able to own this classic, regardless of its
lack of extras. |
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