August: Osage County

Starring: Meryl Streep, Julia Roberts, Benedict Cumberbatch, Ewan McGregor
Directed by John Wells
Rating:

With the kind of stellar cast that it has, nothing could have possibly gone wrong with August: Osage County. But somehow Wells’s adaptation of Tracy Lett’s Pulitzer prize-­winning play leaves one less than satisfied. The film plays out too loud and melodramatic, rather than stirring. The tale of a hot-headed, foul-mouthed, ailing and add­ict mother and her three daughters, coming toge­ther after the father’s suicide, is a classic exploration of a dysfunctional family and the seething resentments within. Everyone is sniping at or smacking the other. One dark revelation and unnerving secret follows another till things boil over during a post-fune­ral meal. Instead of getting one involved, generating empathy and giving one insights into the torn relationships, the film lea­ves one sapped, weary and disengaged. The performances, though overly dramatic, are sturdy and strong and hold the film together. Streep, never-­faltering and ever-depe­ndable, leads from the front as the matriarch Violet Weston; Roberts matches her as the confrontational elder daughter, Barbara. Other actors too get their rightful spot in the sun and bite into their roles with relish, though one would have liked to see a bit more of McGregor.