Review: August: Osage County

by. Joe Moss
★★★½

Gritty, powerful, heartfelt, dysfunctional, otherwise known as a trip through most family gatherings. John Wells' "August: Osage County--" based off of the 2008 Pulitzer Prize winning play of the same name, by Tracy Letts--is sure to pack a punch with most audience members who are not afraid to stare transfixedly into the dark realities that hide behind most homestead walls. Working through their short-comings, their past indiscretions, and many family secrets, the Weston family must decide how to move forward as a group, and as individuals.

Beverly "Bev" Weston (Sam Shepard) was once a truly famous award winning poet. He and his wife, Violet (Meryl Streep) placed roots in Osage County Oklahoma when Bev accepted his final teaching position at a local university. As the film opens, Bev is interviewing Johnna (Misty Upham) as a housekeeper/assistant to help take care of Violet who he says has mouth cancer. We find out that Violet has a widespread prescription drug addiction as a counterbalance to his alcoholism.

Suddenly, we are thrust forward a few days, and discover through a phone conversation between the Weston's middle daughter, Ivy (Julianne Nicholson) and the oldest daughter, Barbara (Julia Roberts) that Bev has gone missing. To aid Violet, who is severely distraught in her drug-induced dementia, Barbara decides to make the trip home. She brings with her, Bill Fordham (her estranged husband played by Ewan McGregor) and her daughter, Jean (Abigail Breslin). They meet Ivy, Violet's sister Matty Fae (Margo Martindale) and brother-in-law, Charlie (Chris Cooper) at the Weston homestead. Within minutes of arriving, the family is shocked by another knock at the door.  It's the Sheriff who bears the news that Bev has been found, and the body must be identified.

With the arrival of the remaining Weston daughter, Karen (Juliette Lewis) and her beau, Steve Huberbrecht (Dermot Mulroney), all HELL breaks loose in the household as the dirty laundry of all is finally aired out to dry.

My hats of to the producers of the film for allowing Tracy Letts to re-write and translate her play into the actual movie script. It is obvious that she took the time to do her award-winning play justice. Of course the personification provided by the cast is amazing. Meryl Streep is at her best in this movie as she channels the insanity of Elizabeth Taylor's title character from "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" (1966). She steals every scene with biting sarcasm followed by inhaling cigarettes--mind the mouth cancer now!!

Julia Roberts is a mirror image of Meryl Streep's character. As her oldest daughter, Barbara had to put up with Violet's tantrums the most...and this is how Julia plays the role. As s woman on the edge who takes no prisoners. Of course, she learned that from her mother--minus the extreme drug addiction. Julia's ability to hold screen time with Meryl (and even one-up her on occasion) speak volumes for her ability as an actress. They were both perfectly cast in their roles by Kerry Barden ("Good Will Hunting") and Paul Schnee ("Prisoners", 2013).

While the other supporting characters generally perform well, and serve their purpose toward plot development within the film, Juliette Lewis is one who stands out--but in a bad way. Her characterization as Karen falls flat. It just seems as more of Juliette Lewis' classic airhead characters. She doesn't seem to add anything to the plot of the film other than bringing her fiance, Steve, to the fray. His character is slimy and is played perfectly by Dermot Mulroney. Additonally, Benedict Cumberbatch's character, Little Charles, is forgettable. This is probably a good thing as he is only present in the film for about 10 minutes.

I heartily enjoyed this movie and fully recommend to anyone who enjoys the occasional glance into the dysfunctional goings-on of another household.