August: Osage County

D: John Wells

The Weinstein Company / Smokehouse / Battle Mountain / Yucaipa (George Clooney, Grant Heslov, Jean Doumanian & Steve Traxler)

US 🇺🇸 2013

120 mins

Drama

W: Tracy Letts [based on his play]

DP: Adriano Goldman

Ed: Stephen Mirrione

Mus: Gustavo Santaolalla 

Meryl Streep (Violet Weston), Julia Roberts (Barbara Weston-Fordham, Ewan McGregor (Bill Fordham), Abigail Breslin (Jean Fordham), Juliette Lewis (Karen Weston), Dermot Mulroney (Steve Huberbrecht), Sam Shepard (Beverly Weston)

Based on the Pulitzer Prize winning stage play, August: Osage County follows an estranged, dysfunctional family who reunite at their Oklahoma home following a tragedy.

Meryl Streep plays Violet, the matriarch of the Weston family, suffering from cancer and addition to narcotics.  Her eldest daughter is played by Julia Roberts, who arrives from Colorado with her husband (Ewan McGregor) and teenage daughter (Abigail Breslin), and is every bit as belligerent as her acid-tongued mother.  The youngest daughter is played by Juliette Lewis, coupled with a sordid boyfriend whom she introduces as her fiancé.

Also joining them is Violet’s sister, Mattie Fae, her husband and grown up children.

Arguments follow as the family come together upon the sad occasion, threatening to break up the Weston family and their significant others.

The performances from the ensemble cast are excellent, and the dialogue feels genuine throughout.

It’s clear that the plot was adapted from a play, since most of the scenes take place in a single location, and while it may work better on stage overall, it’s a fine adaption which captured two phenomenal performances from Meryl Streep and Julia Roberts on film, which more than justifies the big screen transition.

7/10