In 1990 or so when I was about 15 or 16 when I caught a few scenes of 'Ordinary People' on television. It stopped me in my tracks. The 1980 flick was and remains one of my all time favorite movies. I missed most of the movie so set out the next day to find it on VHS (might have been beta, not sure if we had moved to VHS yet...my family was slow).
I watched the movie 3 times over the next day or so. This was at the height of my wanting to be a star and Timothy Hutton's performance blew me away. It still does.
I re watched 'Ordinary People' the other night and the power of the movie blew me away again.
'Ordinary People' marked the directorial debut of Robert Redford. The movie also helped reshape Mary Tyler Moore's career. For many after watching her as Beth, she would no longer be the Mary Richards we had come to know her for. All of the acting was stellar. Besides Moore and Hutton (who won an Oscar for best supporting actor) the cast was rounded out by Judd Hirsh and Donald Sutherland. To me this was Sutherland's best role and it is a horrible mistake that he was the only one of the four main principals not to be recognized by an Oscar Nomination.
Besides Hutton's Oscar, Ordinary People went on to win the Oscar for best picture that year, beating such films as Raging Bull and The Elephant Man. Redford also took the award for best director.
I also was impressed by each of the supporting cast: Dinah Manoff, Elizabeth McGovern, M. Emmett Walsh and Fredric Lehne. In some cases just a scene or two (Dinah Manoff) left a powerful impression due to the writing and directing. (What has McGovern been up to btw).
If you are a lover of great film and great acting and have not seen Ordinary People I say go find it. The movie does have dated feel, very 80's, I happen to love that feel in movies though, takes me back. The 80's were my growing up years and Hollywood does not make family dramas like Ordinary People and Kramer Vs Kramer the way they used to. It is a shame.
