Meryl Streep is a three-time Oscar winner, who has given mesmerizing performances in such films as “The Devil Wears Prada”, “Julie & Julia”, “The Iron Lady” and many more. And while she is fantastic as wife and mother Violet Wilson in the big-screen version of the Pulitzer Prize-winning play, “August: Osage County”, this has to be the most discombobulated movie Streep has ever been a part of.
Violet is the perfect showcase role for Streep. From scene one, the script provides her with long, drawn-out monologues, as an aging, drug addicted, mouth cancer patient, whose family has left her and her poet husband (played by Sam Shepard) to live-out their final years together, mostly alone, in their large, rural Oklahoma home. And it’s not only in the soon-to-be infamous dinner table battle where Streep gets to pour it all out, complete with a wig and cigarette, but she dominates every scene she’s in, which is practically all of them. Anger, sadness, pain, bitterness – Streep holds nothing back.
However, Streep aside, “August: Osage County” is a masterful mess. Tracy Letts, who authored the play, also wrote the dysfunctional screenplay about these insanely dysfunctional people. I’ve never experienced characters yelling at each other so loudly and so often in one film in my life: mother vs. daughter(s), daughter vs. child; husband vs. wife (x2), child vs. mother (x3), thrice-married man vs. fiance,sister vs. sister(s), daughter vs. doctor (Julia Roberts’ Barbara literally throws multiple pill containers at her mother’s physician), and even housekeeper vs. her crazy patient’s family. It’s a mad house!
But don’t let the trailers fool you, “August: Osage County” is NOT a comedy. There isn’t one single funny line, scene or situation in the entire film. In fact, it’s often quite depressing. It’s unfortunate that thisfirst-rate cast had to be subjected to such a predictable, over-the-top script with absolutely no payoff. Ewan McGregor gets to call his soon-to-be separated wife (Roberts) “a pain in the a**”, Margo Martindale has a few wisecracks while reminiscing with sister Violet about the good ol’ days, and Chris Cooper delivers what is supposed to be a comical, extended version of “Grace” before dinner. But none of these scenes produce any laughs, only cringes.
And while all of this apparently worked on theater audiences, there is really no point to “August: Osage County” – the movie. If all Letts and director John Wells were trying to do is present a slice of a Southern family’s life in all its misery, then I guess they pulled that off. A more practical reason why this film was made was likely to attract and showcase stars Streep and Roberts for Awards Season nominations, even though Roberts’ performance wasn’t worthy of Best Supporting Actress attention. If the dining room fight scene between their two characters was Roberts trying to steal one of Streep’s Oscars instead of her meds, that would’ve been entertaining.
“August: Osage County” is rated R for language, drug content, adult material, and some serious themes. It’s appropriate for teens and up. Even though Streep is very good, her performance is just not enough to overcome all the other problems with this film. I can only recommend this movie to people who may be having a stressful time with their relatives. If you think YOUR family is screwed-up, you ain’t seen nothing yet.
On The Official LCJ Report Card, “August: Osage County” gets a C-.