I know I'm known for being harsh when it comes to my reviews, but the pairing of my icons/idols Meryl Streep and Julia Roberts has been advertised for at least a year. THIS was a must-see movie for me. And I will fully agree their performances are well worth the wait. Meryl is like the Madonna of acting, constantly reinventing herself as an actress. This role is a mean role, meaner than Miranda Priestly from "The Devil Wears Prada." The way Meryl acts reminds me of kids; you know how kids have honest portrayals then when they grow up they KNOW it's not pretend it's a job? Well Meryl acts like it's pretend; she acts as honest as children do. That has been the joy of me watching Meryl perform. And Julia's role is more brash than her Oscar winning role of "Erin Brockovich" and physical. Erin had one scene she yelled at her coworker, Barbara has MANY! THE BEST SCENE is when Barbara finally reaches her breaking point with the silver tongued Viola and attacks her. She has taken a page from Meryl in the childlike acting. Barbara is like a boiling pot of water on the stove for too long; just watch and it'll boil over sooner or later. So why isn't this 5 stars out of 5 if I'm gushing/drooling over the performances? The story.
So Viola is married to Beverly (Sam Shepard) and he dies. When he does the family comes together (her daughters Julia Roberts as Barbara and Julianne Nicholson as Ivy and Juliette Lewis as Karen, brother in law Chris Cooper as Charles, his wife and Viola's sister Mattie Fae played by Margo Martindale, their son Benedict Cumberbatch as Little Charlie, and Juliette's fiance Steve played by Dermot Mulroney with Ewan McGregor as Bill and Abigail Breslin as Jean Barbra's hubby and daughter respectively; Misty Upham plays Johnna the housekeeper to round out the cast) and all the shit in the world hits the fan. Secrets revealed, emotions come to a head, and fireworks. Sounds great right? The execution is what gets me. Viola is TORN UP (rightly so) that her hubby of almost 50 years has died, but the next scene she's laughing and giggling with her sister Mattie Fae (Margo) over Ivy (Julianne) finding a boyfriend. There's a point where one by one family leave the house and some are just gone never to return again or explain how they left. And the BIGGEST atrocity is for a movie so bent on truth telling NO ONE not even Barbara tells the full truth. I hate loathe and despise watching an entire movie where you feel "YES FINALLY someone confronts this person" and there are things left said on the table. Drives me bonkers and feels like lazy writing.
My gut reaction is Julia WILL win Best Lead Actress at the Oscars, but Harvey Weinstein wants to make history. He is pushing for Meryl Streep as Lead Actress when she should be supporting. He thinks if Meryl wins she will tie with Katherine Hepburn for winning 4 Lead Actress Oscars. WRONG! Meryl would trump Jennifer Lawrence if she was in Supporting Actress, but putting her in lead she won't win. I know Meryl Streep won't win? She's been nominated 17 times for Oscars and won only 3 of them, so a nomination isn't a sure-fire thing with her. I think if Julia was lead and Meryl was supporting not only would it make more sense, but they stand a better chance because I can't really see Julia having any major competition other than Oscar fave Dame Judi Dench (who won a Supporting Actress Oscar in Shakespeare in Love for appearing on-screen for 8 minutes). I hope they switch the roles for Oscar consideration *crosses fingers* Julia is the heart and soul of this movie. This is HER story.
I do not feel this movie is worth a Best Picture or Adapted Screenplay Oscar. But I do feel Meryl & Julia knocked this one out of the park. But for me it's a one-time viewing maybe twice just to fast forward to the big fight scene.