FILMS… Terms of Endearment (1983)

Another Nicholson role, another Oscar…

A mother and daughter have a good/bad relationship over the years and then the daughter is diagnosed with cancer.

Terms of Endearment – Trailer, Paramount Trailers, www.youtube.com, Photos ©Paramount Pictures 1983

Terms of Endearment (1983) billed as a comedy-drama was nominated for 11 Oscars and won 5. It tells about widow, Aurora Greenway’s (Shirley MacLaine) troubled good/bad relationship with daughter Emma (Debra Winger) over the years. Emma marries Flap Horton (Jeff Daniels) – with her mother’s disapproval – soon after leaving school. After her husband has been found to been having affairs, Emma moves back home. Meanwhile her mother has been dating her neighbour, Garrett (Jack Nicholson), but they break up as he does not want to be monogamous. On Emma’s return to Flap, they move away with one of his mistresses following him. Emma also has an affair with Sam Burns (John Lithgow). On a visit to the doctors, Emma finds out she has breast cancer…

This film is wonderfully acted, with MacLaine getting a deserved Oscar as Best Actress. It was sad, that Debra Winger, also nominated for this category didn’t share the accolade. Winger gives a much more powerful performance than her previous roles. I was happy her acting skills were additionally acknowledged 10 years later for Shadowlands (1993). Nicholson breezes in and out of the film, so was a wee bit surprised he won a Best Supporting Actor Oscar.

I felt he was totally upstaged by Huckleberry Fox, who plays Emma’s son, Teddy. You would be heartless not to have your parental instincts come to the fore when Fox is seen crying in the scenes which relate to Emma’s illness. He is on par with Justin Henry, the youngest child actor to be nominated for the Supporting Actor Oscar in his role in Kramer vs Kramer (1979).

To conclude this film is much more than an “Illness of the Week” drama and it shines at all levels, with memorable cast performances. The direction, writing and production of James L. Brooks and the haunting soundtrack draw you into the story at all times. To conclude, I and am sure others think of it in Terms of Endearment.

Weeper Rating: 😦 😦 😦 😦 😦 😦 😦 😦 /10