Customer Reviews

Marvin's Room [VHS]

5 star:		(74)
4 star:		(17)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

One of the best dramas of the 90's. I've seen this movie a number of times since its release and it never fails to move me. It is a story of two estranged sisters whose life choices drove them to different paths but after years of no contact brought them together again when one needs a bone marrow transplant due to cancer. That's when they had the chance to talk about unsaid feelings and provide them a closure. Diane Keaton played the sister with the cancer and Streep the sister who'll try to give the transplant. Leonardo di Caprio (underrated actor) plays Streeps rebellious son and De Niro has a semi cameo as Keaton's doctor. The titular Marvin is the father of Streep and Keaton whose been dying for years without actually dying.

Meryl Streep and Diane Keaton were perfection. I especially enjoyed Streep's performance. It was fun seeing her play a bitch and she nailed the role. But Diane Keaton ultimately takes over the movie especially in the end. I was deeply moved by her performance, so natural and true that it stays with me long after the movie ends.

There's a moving scene towards the end of the movie, when out of the blue Keaton said to Streep that she's very lucky because her life was full of love and then Streep consoled her and said yes many people loves her. But Keaton said it's not about that. What she meant was she's very lucky to love her dad and her aunt so much. Makes you realize that the best feeling in the world is to love someone regardless whether reciprocated or not. The ending was just perfect, it's still sad but in a good way where the characters reached the peak of their character arcs. It's a triumphant ending.

I recommend this film to the highest regard possible. It's full of heart and I don't want to say life lessons because the movie ain't preachy, but I guess in some ways made you think about your own life.

Grade: A

This movie is based on Scott McPherson's off - Broadway play. It has been turned into a wonderful little movie. A movie that is sort of one of those lost gems. Meryl Streep heads an impeccable all star cast as a woman who comes back in contact with her long estranged sister, played by Diane Keaton. Keaton's character has been taking care of her and Streep's very old and very ill father(played so realistically by Hume Cronyn). Keaton's character then finds out that she has leukemia and needs a bone marrow transplant. The only donors that can help are Meryl and her wayward kids(headed by the solid Leonardo DiCaprio). Meryl and the kids head down to Florida where Keaton is and, well, they bring along some of their own little dysfunction. The movie is sad, but not in the ball your eyes out way. It avoids the usual scenes of death beds and a huge dying scene. None of that is here. The movie is about the family, and the two estranged sisters coming together. Not to mention Meryl's character coming to terms with her son Hank(Leo). The film definitley hits some emotional highs, but it's not, as I've said above, the usual way we've seen it a hundred times before. Robert De Niro appears in a fairly small role as Keaton's character. He also co-produced the film. Our main stars here all shine brightly. Keaton is great, as always. Meryl and Leo makes their characters believeable, if not very sympathetic. In the end, it's Keaton who shines the brightest. Marvin's Room is a nice family drama that was horribly overlooked and forgotten by most people. Give it a chance.

Words cannot express how much I love this movie! I bought like 8 copies of it and gave them out for Christmas. The music makes me cry and I love the story. My family is sorta like the one in the film and my grandpa is a lot like Marvin. It was very easy to relate to the story. Meryl Streep, Diane Keaton, Leo, Gwen Verdon, Robert De Niro and Hume Cronyn all deserve Oscars and I don't know why that Academy can't recognize great stories when they see it but Keaton deserved her Oscar nomination for Best Actress and did Meryl's Golden Globe nomination. I truly loved Verdon's performance as she reminds me of my grandmother, Leo was terrific and should stick to roles like this more often. I'm still peeved that the Academy didn't give this more Oscar nominations. This is one of the greatest family films to come out of Hollywood in like forever and all should see it. It presents a strong moral of family life and should make others see that we need each other somewhere in our lives and should just lay aside our petty differences about each other. I love this movie so much I encourage all to see it. Box office grosses and awards don't matter with a film like this. My deepest admiartion goes to the writer and director of this film and to Rachel Portman for her touching music. I bought the soundtrack and it is one of the greatest I've heard in years. "TITANIC" has nothing on it and I love it as well. As you can tell, I really, really love this movie! NOW GO SEE IT!!!!!!!!!!!!

Most of the reviews of 'Marvin's Room' I've read online all mention Leonardo DiCaprio and how cute he is, how much he is loved, and how he acted wonderfully in the movie. I can't say I don't agree- he adds flavor to the movie and pulls off a very convincing act of a troubled boy. But the floor belong to Diane Keaton and Meryl Streep. I can't think of better actresses for this movie than these two- they're beautiful together. The movie is handled in a dramatic light; from the beach scene to the darkened scene where Bessie tells the story of her dead boyfriend. I don't think there's a better movie of family dysfunction.Most movies on family dysfunction end badly and disappoint me greatly. But this movie is a positive one, and ends in one of the best scenes I've ever seen. Here you have two sisters who haven't seen each other in like twenty years, and suddenly they reunite because Bessie needs a bone marrow transplant; otherwise she'll die. From that, they embrace each other hesitantly but surely; they realize of their love for eachother. They all depend on each other and grow from each other. Lee is someone with lost hope; and Bessie is the one who restores it.You can almost see Bessie's rare spirit reaching out and touching everyone around her. My favorite scene is when Lee convinces Bessie to take off her wig so she can cut it. Of course, anyone's got to feel embarassed if their wigs have to come off in front of anyone; let alone someone you haven't seen for 20 years. But Bessie takes it off with courage and hope; you can totally see it. Keaton was completely magical in this one; she has rare talent. Bessie was the only one emitting hope and triumph in the face of death; and everyone around her began to feel it also. This person is someone I could never be. I admire this character. The final scene... whoo! The rays of light bouncing off the walls seem to be a representation of heaven and love. They all knew Bessie was going to die. This scene is handled with such finality. I would have much preferred the movie end this way than seeing Bessie die. This family is dysfunctional, but this family also experienced love and courage. To be completely honest, I was stunned into dead silence for the first ten minutes after the movie ended. Then I rewound the movie and started watching it again. I couldn't get enough of this exquisite movie. It's much more than a movie- it's pure reality and imagination combined. This movie is proof that people like Bessie exist. Keaton definitely deserves the Academy Award nomination. Hell, she should have won it! I love her. I love this movie! Go see it immediately!You won't regret it--trust me.

Instead of the usual over-the-top heavy-sentiment scenes in a dysfunctional family, Marvin's Room finds a clever, non-contrived way to end by leaving its characters at a magical moment of mutual understanding. It is one of the most powerful endings I've ever seen in a film.

Greatly acted by almost everyone (including a very young Leonardo Di Caprio), great score, excellent screenplay, a tinge of wry humor through it all, and gutwrenching emotion.

I picked up the DVD for Streep, and found her character a little one-dimensional. But when I really think of it, the most remarkable thing about the film is how it reveals how similar the two sisters are, despite their non-trivial character differences. Both abandon one part of their family to sacrifice for another part -- they each merely take different parts, and that's why Lee's character is not as bad, selfish or one-dimensional as she first seems. Lee's problem was understanding love. Despite all her lovers, Lee (Streep) had to learn the real meaning of love from her spinster sister Bessie (Keaton).

Worth buying, as anyone with a heartbeat will watch this gem more than once. Highly recommended.

Initially performed off Broadway in 1991, "Marvin's Room" was written by a man by the name of Scott McPherson. At the time, he, his lover, and a number of their friends were suffering from the effects of AIDS. "We all take care of each other," McPherson wrote in the play's program, "the less sick caring for the most sick. But at times, an unbelievably harsh fate can be transcended by a simple act of love." "Marvin's Room," is about just this. By no means is it a story about cancer or terminal illness. Instead, it leaves all television "disease of the week" cliches at the door, and stands as a gut wrenching testament to the healing power of love. Eloquently brought to screen in this handsome production, "Marvin's Room" loses none of its beauty in its transition to film. The performances are excellent across the board with Meryl Streep, and Diane Keaton shining in their roles, and Gwen Verdon and Leonardo DiCaprio giving equally fine work. Veteran stage director Jerry Zaks does an excellent job with his material as the picture is filled with several moving images and moments. It is hard to forget the scene in which Lee is pictured cutting her older sister's wig, or when Hank is finally shown reaching out toward his aunt. But of all the film's many well executed moments, nothing can match the story's touching and emotional ending for its shear impact and genuine humanity. Watching this film is pure cinematic joy. There are moments of pure hilarity, and scenes so moving that the viewer's heart almost stops. There is no bathos, or sentiment in this movie. Just simple and honest feeling and emotion.

Close to a perfect movie as you can get. Instead of the usual over-the-top heavy-sentiment scenes in a dysfunctional family, Marvin's Room finds a clever, non-contrived way to end by leaving its characters at a magical moment of mutual understanding. It is one of the most powerful endings I've ever seen in a film.

Greatly acted by almost everyone (including a very young Leonardo Di Caprio), great score, excellent screenplay, a tinge of wry humor through it all, and gutwrenching emotion.

I picked up the DVD for Streep, and found her character a little one-dimensional. But when I really think of it, the most remarkable thing about the film is how it reveals how similar the two sisters are, despite their non-trivial character differences. Both abandon one part of their family to sacrifice for another part -- they each merely take different parts, and that's why Lee's character is not as bad, selfish or one-dimensional as she first seems. Lee's problem was understanding love. Despite all her lovers, Lee (Streep) had to learn the real meaning of love from her spinster sister Bessie (Keaton).

Worth buying, as anyone with a heartbeat will watch this gem more than once. Highly recommended.

Meryl Streep is excellent as always but Diane Keaton absolutely blew me away with her performance! The scene when she goes from laughter to tears when talking about her "carnie boyfriend" is pure acting magic and the clincher is the ending scene when she is picking up the presription pills from the floor with Meryl.....I can't stop crying because Diane's performance is so raw and so real! One of my all time favorite sit down at home rainy day weekend with a pint of ice cream kinda of movie.

Simply one of the finest movies in recent years for those who are loving or those who wish to be. Superb performances by all, indeed all....even the old dying father is memorable. And the lovely Diane Keaton is so very touching and real, many things and characters that will remain in your mind and heart. I have watched this movie many times and suspect that you will too.

How families fall apart and mend themselves is the point of this star-laden 1996 movie, but stage and TV director Jerry Zaks, screenwriter Scott McPherson, and a trio of fine performances transcend the formulaic aspects to come up with something more resonant. Based on a play by McPherson before he succumbed to AIDS, the semi-autobiographical plot focuses on two estranged, middle-aged sisters. In Florida, mousey spinster Bessie has spent twenty years as caretaker to their ailing father Marvin and their eccentric aunt Ruth. In Ohio, Lee escaped family responsibility to get married and raise two sons in Ohio only to see things fall apart. Lee is on the verge of turning her life around as a licensed cosmetologist when Bessie is diagnosed with leukemia and reaches out to Lee and her sons as potential bone-marrow transplant candidates.

The rest of the movie is mainly about how the sisters cope with each other when they reunite and what they do to deal with the inevitable. Intriguingly, while the soap opera elements are strictly by-the-numbers, there is a persistent undercurrent of black comedy that effectively blunts the potential sentimentality of the piece. It also helps that Meryl Streep and Diane Keaton play the sisters. As the embittered, guilt-ridden Lee, Streep moves easily back into blue-collar, Silkwood territory, and she unapologetically shows the edginess and jealousy of her self-centered character. However, it's a vanity-free Keaton who really radiates as Bessie finding inner strength and contentment under increasingly dire circumstances. A year before "Titanic", Leonardo di Caprio effectively plays the last of his juvenile hellions as Lee's oldest son Hank, a textbook example of teenaged, pyromaniac angst.

The rest of the cast is fine in limited turns - Robert DeNiro (one of the producers as well) as the bumbling Dr. Wally; Dan Hedaya as his even more pixilated brother Bob; Gwen Verdon as wild-eyed, soap opera-obsessed Aunt Ruth; Hal Scardino as Hank's self-controlled little brother Charlie; and Hume Cronyn, who is forced to play Marvin with severely limited expression. There are predictable moments throughout, but some surprise and a few actually enthrall, including a seriocomic scene of quiet reconciliation when Bessie recalls the drowning death of her open-mouthed carny boyfriend. There are no extras with the 1999 DVD release.