August : Osage County (2013) 6/10

Starring : Meryl Streep, Julia Roberts, Ewan McGregor, Chris Cooper, Abigail Breslin, Benedict Cumberbatch, Juliette Lewis, Margo Martindale, Dermot Mulroney, Julianne Nicholson, Sam Shepard, Misty Upham
Director : John Wells
Running Time : 121 mins

When the patriarch of the Weston family dies, the rest of the family find themselves thrown together in an unwelcome and uncomfortable way, having to play nice with the people they have grown to hate over the years, specifically pill-addicted cancer suffering matriarch Violet Weston (Streep) whose opinions and views on life make her children even more miserable.

From the trailers, the movie posters, even from word of mouth, this sounded like it was going to be a light-hearted comedy drama, perhaps with an edge that would delve into some darkness towards the end, but other than the odd bit of slapstick and some one-liners, this was nothing but solid drama. It was uncomfortable to watch at times, and the characters are both unlikeable and, on the whole, irredeemable. If you don’t like movies that delve into addiction, child-abuse, and all sorts of horribleness, then skip this.

You’ll like this if you liked : The Savages