Customer Reviews

One True Thing

5 star:		(53)
4 star:		(17)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

"One True Thing" beautifully and poignantly demonstrates that appearances can be deceiving, and that what one sees on the surface doesn't necessarily reflect the deeper truth. In this brilliantly acted film, Zellweger (the daughter), discovers that her notions about her parents (Streep and Hurt) and about marriage in general were illusions, and, in turn, comes to a greater understanding of both her parents and the realities of marriage.

Zellweger's relationship with her mother was always strained. and she looked down upon her mother's life thinking it provincial and small. Her father, the college department head and National Book Award winner, however, was put on a pedestal, appearing larger than life to her. When Zellweger moves back home to nurse her dying mother, she painfully discovers that her father treats her accomplishments as "small" and irrelevant (comparable to her view of her mother), and that he is far removed from her idealized image of him. She, in turn, comes to a new admiration and appreciation for her mother's perserverance and wisdom about life.

Streep, one of our greatest actresses, can communicate more with a look on her expressive face than most actresses can with hours of dialogue. Zellweger, another talented performer, more than holds her own with the formidable acting talents of Streep. The two of them together create scenes of enormous power and emotional energy. They make this perceptive and absorbing film an unforgettable experience.

It seems less and less frequently that we get to see a superbly assembled cast of actors united in a story that tells itself in terms of its human interest, level of drama, and opportunity to learn something from the characters about the nature of life, relationships, and ultimately about ourselves. This movie offers such an opportunity. All of the cast memebers, but especially Meryl Streep and William Hurt, do an outstanding job in presenting this tale of a family in crisis, and the hidden secrets, weaknesses and strengths of its members and their enduring bonds to each other. The photography is well done, and the sound is excellent as well.

This is a worthwhile and serious movie, involving some interesting intellectual issues about how the needs of a family of strong but loving individuals and quite strong and needy personalities clash and interact with each other over an increasingly critical stage of terminal illness for the matriarchal mother of this modern American family. Overall, then, I recommend this as an absorbing examination of an intellectual family with a range of family issues such as rilvary, and a number of hidden dimensions to the relationships within the family itself. It is painful to watch each of them struggle to deal with a member's decline and death due to cancer. One of the increasingly rare worthwhile movie experiences, and one well worth owning.

The first time I watched this film it was the 3rd movie we were watching in a marathon. I promised myself I would let myself fall asleep...and with the slow beginning I thought I was well on my way to dreamland. HOWEVER,something about the movie kept my attention, and by the end I was astounded by new revelations.

I watched this film again recently, and again I was amazed at all that this movie accomplishes in a very understated way. At a time when I personally feel frustrated at all the preachiness I see going on in literature and movies, I am a champion of this masterpiece. This film engaged me, brought me through a rich journey, and left me as a changed person...all without telling me what I should take away from the film.

For a little more background, the storyline is as follows: an up-and-coming NYC journalist (Zellweger) goes home to celebrate her father's birthday in a small town. She despises the vulgar simplicity of the town, her mother, the costume party, etc. However, she absolutely idolizes her father, who is a well-known English professor at a nearby university.

However, while she is at home, her beloved father coerces her to put her budding career on hold so she can take care of her mother (Streep), who she learns is battling cancer. Zellweger's character is openly angered & offended by this request...which is just the beginning of script filled with a refreshingly honest look at our ugly, selfish & occassionally brilliant emotions in such situations.

In coming to stay with her mother, Zellweger continues to despise the ignoble life of women's meetings, town decorating, baking, etc. that she is forced to join. Up to this point in the movie, everything is as you might predict or expect in the storyline. However, where the movie goes from here is absolutely phenomenal. As this daughter lives in her mom's world and begins to understand her mother's very understated, unacademic life, she is opened to whole new worlds of humanity. At the same time, as her opinion of her mother rises, her opinion of her father comes into question. As the movie explores this whole dynamic, more twists come and this daughter is overwhelmed by the complexity of relationships & adult life. No one is right. No one is wrong. Nothing is simple, and everyone struggles as he fights his own demons.

At the very end, this movie shows (not preaches but shows) an absolutely breath-taking portrayal of love well after the rose-tinted glasses have come off. I don't want to give anything away, but it's when Streep wraps her arms around her husband after his late night out. After being barraged with so many images of Hollywood love, the daughter (and the audience) is speechless at a protrayal of deep, full, rich love that has grown in the face of so much pain & struggle of life.

This might admittedly be more of a girl's movie than a guy's. One of my guy friends only stayed awake because of the DA interrogation of the daughter interspersed throughout the film. However, many, many of my girlfriends who hate chick flicks were as pierced by this movie as I was. (Many of them have also dismissed their mother's maternal role in their lives and have idolized their fathers.)

I simply can't express in words how wonderful and paniful and majestic this piece is. And it's so refreshing because it goes where so many films aren't willing to go - to the stuff of our true, everyday lives & situations that aren't glamorous but are filled with ugly emotions, pride, and underestimations of others.

GET READY WITH THE TISSUES, HOWEVER, THE MOVIE IS SO TRUE TO LIFE AND WHAT HAPPENS WITHIN A FAMILY TOUCHED WITH A CANCER VICTIM. I CAN RELATE TO SO MUCH OF THE MOVIE. IF YOU WANT TO KNOW HOW CANCER CAN AFFECT YOUR FAMILY AND WHAT GOOD CAN COME FROM GIVING FROM THE HEART, THIS MOVIE WILL GIVE YOU INSIGHT TO WHAT IT TAKES TO BE THE CARE GIVER AS WELL AS THE CANCER PATIENT. THE MOVIE IS WELL DONE AND I GIVE IT A FIVE STAR FOR QUALITY PRODUCTION. IF YOU HAVE JUST GONE THROUGH A TRAGIC SITUATION WITH CANCER, GET READY FOR SCENES WHICH WILL GIVE YOU INSIGHT INTO WHY PEOPLE ACT AS THEY DO.

If there's one actress that can get into the skin of her character, Streep is it. She effortlessly portays a regular housewife, embroidering pillows and decorating cribs one minute, and being a veritable fountain of love and understanding the next! William Hurt turns in a convincing performance too, as the aloof and careless Regular Husband, while Zellweger adds a mean punch with her rich and dynamic presence.

The theme is hardly anything earth-shattering, but there's a fine line between the genuinely moving and the saccharine, and under Franklin's low-key direction "One True Thing" succeeds where many pictures fail by maintaining its dignity and, just as importantly, its honesty. You won't cry out of a sense of obligation, but because the incredible cast drive the material straight to the heart.

Highly recommended if you're in the mood for a stirring "Ordinary People" type of a drama. Keep a Kleenex handy.

This adaptation of Anna Quindlen's novel of a daughter coming to terms with her mother's fatal illness is boosted immeasurably by Meryl Streep. As a wife and mother dying slowly, agonizingly of cancer, she turns in her by now expected superb performance; even so, there are scenes that amaze. When Streep, whose entire identity has been formed around her skills at running a household, instructs daughter Renee Zellweger on how to have a wedding that she will never have the chance to organize or preside over, her words, delivered without an ounce of false sentiment, will draw tears from the hardest-hearted viewer.

The film is fortunate to have Streep on hand, as she does much to alleviate weaknesses elsewhere. The structure and tone of Quindlen's book has been somewhat altered, not to its advantage. Hurt, playing the philandering father, comes off as more of a weakling and charlatan in the film script, thus skewing the emotional balance toward the women in the family. The mystery of whether someone in the family committed a mercy killing is clumsily handled, dealt with in segments showing Zellweger being interviewed by a police official that interrupt the flow of the drama. Finally, Zellweger herself, though sympathetic and a worthy foil for Streep, is not altogether convincing as a driven career woman. Still, the underlying truths about life, death and family, as brought forth by Meryl Streep's luminous performance, make this a drama worth savoring.

Carl Franklin's ONE TRUE THING is the kind of movie you can't dislike. A universal moving story, above-average actors and a classical treatment by a talented new director. Pretty rare these days, isn't it ? So let's enjoy this motion picture.

ONE TRUE THING is about the generations' clash and family life. It describes the growing understanding of a young modern girl for her mother's life. This mother, played by a sumptuous Meryl Streep, has dedicated her life to her husband and her two children, sacrificing herself for a selfish family.

Along with Renee Zellweger, we will discover what is hidden behind the boring everyday life of that woman. Discreetly, Carl Franklin's camera chases the little tragedies and joys of human condition and reminds us that life is not worth living without mutual tolerance.

A DVD for the family.

This is one of those movies you recommend to strangers because you're absolutely certain they'll love it the way you do. Watching Meryl Streep in anything is pleasurable, but watching her be the dying mother of Renee Zellweger's character is a treasure. There are moments in the movie (and the book) when you are suddenly aware there is a shift happening inside you... you have been moved in a way you seldom are, and you don't forget it. When Kate (Streep) and Ellen (Zellweger) stand together at the lighting of the Christmas trees, you shift. When Kate explains the complicity of marriage to a bitter Ellen, you shift. When Kate pleads for an end to her pain... it's just heart-wrenching. The movie is quiet, rather than in your face, and that is part of it's treasure. It's also just as good as the book - not one where you walk away wishing you'd stopped after the book. It is a wonderful movie, one you'll want to keep in your collection of gems.

If you want your next family flick to be sugar coated and ideal, skip this marvel of a film. If you want to pay attention to subtle dialouge details, be enthralled with rich, textural cinematography and possibly weep at moments so close to your heart, it hurts, actually hurts, add "One True Thing" to your video collection.

This film adaptation of Anna Quindlen's book may be considered a "chick flick"--and those viewers may cluck all they like. But once in a while, I like to be moved, deeply moved. And this cast does that: William Hurt, Meryl Streep, and Reneee Zellweger (of Jerry Maguire fame), encircle a plot like campers tending a continuous fire. Each doing their part to kindle, fan, and eventually stare into dying embers.

One of my favorite scenes of this "daughter comes home to take care of dying mother, realizing her perfect father has faults of his own" drama, is when William Hurt reaches for Meryl Streep's fragile hand, a rare reassurance of his love, and ever so slowly swirls her to Bette Midler's rendition of "Do You Wanna Dance".

I watched this film with yearning. Craving chances not taken with issues regarding my own mother. She did not die of cancer--she died of her own hand by pills, in my arms. I best stop here. Got tissues?

A grand film for thoughtful provocation.

Thank you for your interest & comments--CDS

One True Thing based on the bestselling novel tells the story of a hard working & determined mother who has fallen ill with cancer (Meryl Streep). The plot is based around the discoveries her daughter makes (Renee Zellweger) about her family, and realizes that the world her family lived in so many years ago was not as happy as it seemed. The daughter has clearly favored her father over her mother for as long as she could remember, and never treated her mother fairly or appriciated anything she did for her. Zellweger's character discovers the dark secrets of her fathers sexual affairs and his massive drinking problems, and at the end of her mother's life realizes just how badly her father had treated her. The movie is very well done (unfortunatley it was greatly overlooked). The movie is ultimatley depressing, but tells an extreamly powerful story and effective in its delivery.