Which Actors and Actresses Seem to Get Naked A lot on Film?

Tags

Ewan McGregor, Helen Mirren, Julianne Moore, Kate Winslet, Matthew McConaughey, Nudity

I recalled the other day that my last post on movie nudity got a lot of attention and interesting opinions. So I decided it would be good to delve into the subject of cinematic nudity once. This time around, I’m asking which actors and actresses appear to strip off a lot in their movies? If I had a body like some of the top stars, I’m sure I’d be fine getting naked on screen. But I digress, I will now mention the stars that in my opinion, seem very comfortable in taking it off for the screen.

Ewan McGregor:

This guy appears very at ease with his body and is more than willing to be seen on celluloid in the buff.

Julianne Moore:

The beautiful and hugely talented Miss Moore is also comfortable on doing nude scenes with a tastefulness and honesty.

Kate Winslet:

Elegance, supreme acting chops and confidence fill Kate Winslet, who has done many a nude scene and had no difficulty shedding clothes for the camera.

Matthew McConaughey:

I’ll admit if I had a body like this guy, I wouldn’t feel the need to wear a shirt ever. I mean just look at the guy.

Helen Mirren: 

A classy lady and marvellous actress, Helen Mirren has never shied away from going nude, only recently saying she’s retired her body from the screen.

So do you agree with my choices? Or do you think there are other stars who parade on screen in the buff.

Emma

Tags

1990's, Alan Cumming, Comedy, Douglas McGrath, Emma, Ewan McGregor, Greta Scacchi, Gwyneth Paltrow, Jane Austen, Jeremy Northam, Juliet Stevenson, Period Drama, Polly Walker, Romance, Sophie Thompson, Toni Collette

Film Title

Emma

Director

Douglas McGrath

Starring

• Gwyneth Paltrow as Emma Woodhouse
• Jeremy Northam as Mr. Knightley
• Toni Collette as Harriet Smith
• Ewan McGregor as Frank Churchill
• Alan Cumming as Mr Elton
• Polly Walker as Jane Fairfax
• Juliet Stevenson as Mrs Elton
• Greta Scacchi as Miss Taylor
• Sophie Thompson as Miss Bates

A ravishing and witty rendering of Jane Austen’s classic novel, Emma is a fine comedy romance about the errors and misinterpretation when it comes to matters involving the heart. With a delightful performance by Gwyneth Paltrow at the heart of it and an equally compelling cast surrounding her, Emma is one of those films that is almost impossible not to enjoy.

In the English countryside of the early-19th-century, a young woman by the name of Emma Woodhouse lives. A vivacious and charming woman, Emma likes to think of herself as being all-knowing when it comes to setting people up in romantic connections. This notion started after she helped introduce her now former governess Miss Taylor to the man who is now her husband. From then on Emma has made it her goal to unite others, all of it comes from a genuine place but little by little the results get complicated. Her meddling in the affairs of others begins to become a lot more complex when Emma decides to fix her shy best friend Harriet Smith up with the local minister Mr Elton. Though Harriet likes someone else, she is a little naive and instead takes Emma’s advice to pursue Mr Elton. Observing Emma’s meddling ways is family friend Mr. Knightley, who is the one person who understands what Emma is like and warns her not to get involved in other people’s love lives. Emma though is stubborn and genuinely believes she is aiding everyone with her services as Cupid, which she extends to almost everyone she meets. The amusing part of all of it is that while she’s so busy plotting to bring others together, she doesn’t see that love could be in front of her from many men; including the wise Mr. Knightley and the dashing Frank Churchill. Eventually, through all of Emma’s schemes that have been meant to be helpful for her social circle, disastrous results and odd pairings emerge through confusion and Emma’s belief that she is always right when it comes to love. But what of her own experience with love?  Can she truly begin to see that love may be something for her if she’s so busy matching others up? And what of all the matches(or should that be mismatches) that she’s orchestrated from a good place that has gone awry?

Director Douglas McGrath mounts this comic tale with skill and a disarming wit, much in keeping with the Austen source material. He makes scenes flow into the next with a glee that is most delightful, as it captures how much of an impact Emma’s plans have on everyone’s romances and decisions. He also writes the script and delightfully covers the ways of old society and how Emma crucially misinterprets certain bits of information and runs with them, not realizing that something else was meant by the remark. With is direction and screenplay, McGrath makes Emma a class act from start to finish. The device of us hearing Emma’s innermost thoughts is a funny one too, especially when what she’s thinking goes opposite to her facial expressions. I must give a lot of credit to the cinematography of this movie as it contributes a playful and vivacious tone to the piece, much in the same way the eponymous character does in her own mischievous way. An elegant set design is beautifully rendered and compliments the absolutely stunning costumes worn by the characters, in particular the women involved in the story. And particularly of note and worthy of praise is the lush and romantic score from Rachel Portman, that won her a well-earned Oscar.

Embodying the title role with poise, personality and a convincing English accent is Gwyneth Paltrow, in one of her best performances. Showcasing Emma’s misguided belief that she is helping others when in fact a lot of what she does goes wrong, Paltrow finds humour within Emma as well as a core of naughtiness. Although Emma is a meddler and schemer, she does it out of kindness and Paltrow is adept at showing how she wants the best intentions for others, but how even she can’t hold sway over the heart and isn’t as skilled at matchmaking as she likes to think. It’s a stunning performance from a radiant Gwyneth Paltrow. The actors and actresses that surround Paltrow are of excellent calibre and ability. The handsome Jeremy Northam excels portraying the smart and very observant Mr. Knightley, who knows what Emma’s up to and warns her of the repercussions. A gentle and sweet performance from Toni Collette as Emma’s friend Harriet is another great part that is well suited to the talents of the very versatile actress. Then we have Ewan McGregor; delightfully charming but slightly uncouth as Frank Churchill, who could be a romantic contender for Emma’s heart. Alan Cumming is rather funny as the local minister who becomes unwittingly part of Emma’s matchmaking and Polly Walker is lovely to behold as the rather shy Jane Fairfax. Snobbery and bitchy lines come courtesy of Julie Stevenson, who is a hoot as the opinionated and stuck up woman who becomes Mr. Elton’s wife and knows how to rub Emma up the wrong way from the get go. Greta Scacchi and Sophie Thompson in small roles are both very appealing in different ways and put real stamps on the characters.

Capturing the observant nature and muddled romantic couplings of Austen’s novel as a result of the title character, Emma emerges as a hugely entertaining and lively period comedy that is topped off with a winning performance from Gwyneth Paltrow.

Cassandra’s Dream

Tags

2000's, Cassandra's Dream, Clare Higgins, Colin Farrell, Drama, Ewan McGregor, Hayley Atwell, Sally Hawkins, Thriller, Tom Wilkinson, Woody Allen

Film Title

Cassandra’s Dream

Director

Woody Allen

Starring

• Ewan McGregor as Ian
• Colin Farrell as Terry
• Tom Wilkinson as Uncle Howard
• Hayley Atwell as Angela
• Sally Hawkins as Kate
• Clare Higgins as Dorothy

A dramatic thriller from Woody Allen that suffers from odd pacing, a none too special script that rehashes old ideas Allen has explored in other movies more successfully and lack of involving events, Cassandra’s Dream had currency but nearly every element conspires against it and we’re left  watching a sub par film from a talented director.

Ian and Terry are two cockney brothers; the oldest Ian helps his somewhat  lax father in his restaurant, whereas Terry works as a mechanic in a local garage and is engaged to the sweet Kate. What binds both of the brothers is the sense of financial dissatisfaction. This is heightened even more when Ian meets the beautiful but demanding actress , who he becomes very attracted to. Having always had aspirations to set up hotels in the Suns of California, inspires Ian to make some money to fulfill his dreams but also benefit her in the long run. Terry, who is prone to booze and excessive gambling despite being a well-meaning man, falls into debt and owes a lot of money to loan sharks who know how to hurt. With both brothers desperate for monetary stability and fast, help seems to come in the shape of their Uncle Howard, who they have always looked up to. He has helped the family in the past and being a self-made man, has worked his way up to being a millionaire. Yet for all this hard work, a lot of his deals have been on the very shady side. He agrees to endow his nephews if they first do one thing for him. It appears that one of Howard’s associates is threatening to expose some of his less than savory antics. The cunning and sinister Howard says the only way to stop his crook tactics in business from being exposed is to have the man killed, which he asks Ian and Terry to carry out. Both brothers are shocked by what he is asking them to do, but both come round to the idea( despite Terry becoming still twitchy about the lack of morality.) The brothers eventually manage to carry out the murderous deed successfully, but it begins to change their relationship. Ian, who wanted the money to keep up with high maintenance Angela, decides to think as if nothing happened as he becomes enamoured with the lump sum coming his way. On the other hand, Terry becomes eaten up by unspeakable guilty that consumes him more and more each day that leads to the shattering of him and his brother’s close friendship and spells very bad circumstances for both men.

While it must be stated that Woody Allen is a very gifted director and writer, Cassandra’s Dream doesn’t really paint his talent in the best way because of a number of issues and inconsistencies. You see Cassandra’s Dream is billed as a dramatic thriller with a morality theme at the centre(much like many of Allen’s later movies), yet it is curiously neither thrilling or dramatic. Granted, there are a few scenes with a bit of tension, yet none of them feel very suspenseful or at all that riveting. The way that the pace varies from very quick to a snail-like drudge does not help matters whatsoever. Cassandra’s Dream may be set in London like Match Point, but whereas that movie really had an urgency and dealt with themes of ambition, a sense of wealth and the cruelty of life, the same can’t be said of this misstep. A lot of it feels very clichéd and unlike some of his other work, many characters aren’t interesting enough as people to invest in or relate to. Thankfully there is at least some respite to be found in a gloomy visual style and a moody score from Philip Glass, that lends a degree of darkness to the film which it sorely lacks throughout a lot of it.

One other thing that keeps Cassandra’s Dream at least bearable is most of the cast, who rise above the somewhat checkered source material to turn in good work despite the script’s shortcomings. Despite them both sporting dodgy cockney accents, Ewan McGregor and Colin Farrell impress the brothers in predicaments and torn apart by their actions. Ewan McGregor makes Ian likable and the most ambitious of the two, who seems to become more avaricious after committing murder and wanting the good life. Colin Farrell is the real standout, wearing his heart on his sleeve as the nervous Terry. Never has Farrell shown so much vulnerability and gentleness before, but here he really makes quite the impact with this change of pace as the emotionally tormented man forced into a dire situation that ruins him from the inside. As excellent as Tom Wilkinson is as the scheming and blackmailing Uncle Howard, I would have preferred to see more of him as I am a big fan of Tom Wilkinson. That doesn’t mean that he was bad here, he is far from it, he just feels shortchanged and not featured enough in the story, especially as his actions have a lot of effect on the story. Despite the underwritten nature of their characters, Hayley Atwell and Sally Hawkins do their best as the demanding, opportunistic Angela who bewitches Ian and the caring and tolerant Kate, who starts to worry for boyfriend Terry. The same can’t be said of Claire Higgins who is criminally wasted as the boy’s mother.

With little in the way of thrills or tension, Cassandra’s Dream falls very flat and despite some good parts, none can make up for the disjointed quality of what ranks as one Woody Allen’s weakest outings as director.

The Pillow Book

Tags

1990's, Drama, Ewan McGregor, Peter Greenaway, The Pillow Book, Vivian Wu, Yoshi Oida

Film Title

The Pillow Book

Director

Peter Greenaway

Starring

• Vivian Wu as Nagiko
• Ewan McGregor as Jerome
• Yoshi Oida as The Publisher

A highly unusual movie that adheres to the genre of film known as not for everyone, The Pillow Book is still a visually arresting and intoxicating experience; covering dark eroticism, obsession and revenge into an intriguing film that is hard to forget once you’ve viewed it.

As a young girl, Nagiko delighted in calligraphy as her father every year on her birthday, wrote characters on her face, while her mother read aloud from The Pillow Book. The eponymous book concerns a lady in waiting’s observations, primarily on the nature of love and desire. This ritual left a huge impact on Nagiko who grows up to be a beautiful young woman with a passion for literature and scripture. Yet, Nagiko also remembers her father being blackmailed and degraded by a publisher that she can’t forget. This is more prominent because she is forced to marry his boorish son, who refuses her love of writing and mocks her. Fleeing from him, Nagiko relocates to Hong Kong, where she encounters some success as a fashion model. Yet while she still derives joy from calligraphy, as an adult she now finds it to be sexually stimulating too. The problem is she can’t find a lover who can indulge her unusual passions and connect with her. That is until she comes across British translator Jerome. She soon begins a relationship with him in which they often make love and write on each other’s bodies, even though Nagiko knows that Jerome is bisexual and is intimate with a publisher. Nagiko continues to write and sends her work to a publisher, who rejects it. she is shocked to discover it is the same publisher who ruined her father and is the man in the relationship with Jerome. Yet Jerome sees this as an opportunity to help Nagiko; he asks her to use his body like pages and send him to the publisher so he can see the work and because he likes Jerome, reconsider refusing the work Nagiko sent him. But Jerome’s refusal to break off his relationship with the publisher spells dire and tragic consequences for all as Nagiko feels eventually betrayed.

Now as I mentioned earlier, The Pillow Book is a polarizing movie, much like a lot of the movies directed by Peter Greenaway. Depending on your viewpoint, you can see it as overly arty and pretentious or strikingly adult and challenging. I feel I fall into the latter category. I must give props to Peter Greenaway for his directing prowess, that lets his imagination run wild and employ arresting visual techniques. I will try to list the many visual tricks he employs that really make the movie an experience. There is switches between black and white and colour, overlapping images combining past and present and words that float across the screen. The way these nifty tricks are used is phenomenal and the melding of all of them imprints itself on the mind from the start to the finish. Greenaway is a filmmaker who really understands the concept of cinema as art and The Pillow Book is a very good example of this. Subtlety isn’t his strong suit, but his overblown style compensates for that and the fact that the characters often take a back stand to the imagery. Sexuality and pleasures of the flesh play an important part in the film and this may have a reason for people either liking it or not. There is nudity and sex to be seen, with a lot of nudity from both sexes for a change. But anyone expecting it to be erotic and steamy will be surprised at the unusual nature of it and the practices shown. The scattershot soundtrack combines songs of different languages and genres to a bizarre yet very intriguing effect. It’s safe to say that this film will really divide opinions and while I did find there were some flaws to be found, I was really immersed in the film for the most part.

While the characters present within The Pillow Book often play second fiddle to the style, the actors in the parts are all very credible it must be said. Vivian Wu portrays the very extreme emotions and pleasures of Nagiko without resorting to melodrama. In turn, the character becomes a lot of things and Wu handles them all very capably. Her well-spoken voice is heard through narration which adds another layer of dimension to the character of Nagiko. Ewan McGregor is suitably great as the insincere Jerome, imbuing him with a charm and tragedy yet an inability to compromise that provides the film with drama. In the role of the odious publisher who Nagiko plots revenge against, Yoshi Oida is very good at putting forth his careless nature and disregard for others.

Dark, painterly and experimental to say the least, The Pillow Book will either have you scratching your head or in total awe. Whichever way you see it, one can’t deny the impression it makes.

Perfect Sense

Tags

2010's, David Mackenzie, Drama, Eva Green, Ewan McGregor, Perfect Sense, Science Fiction

Film Title

Perfect Sense

Director

David Mackenzie

Starring

• Ewan McGregor as Michael
• Eva Green as Susan

A haunting science fiction drama about two people who come together just as an epidemic begins, Perfect Sense is brooding, compelling and evocative.

In Glasgow, the happy-go-lucky Michael is a chef working in a restaurant. Living in the flat nearby is Susan, an epidemiologist who has been called in to determine the cause of a most unusual case. In the space of 24 hours and occurring around the world, many people have lost their sense of smell after experiencing outbursts of uncontrolled emotion. The case begins to baffle Susan and her fellow workers as it continues to spread. Meanwhile, Michael and Susan meet and there is an obvious attraction between the two, who begin seeing each other romantically. But the epidemic begins to get worse as another sense is robbed from people, continuing on and on without warning or knowledge. Susan and Michael’s relationship is threatened as the epidemic begins to rapidly take over and society falls into chaos around them. As the epidemic reaches a fever pitch, there is still no explanation of the cause and how it is spreading so quickly and insidiously. The question is, can anyone survive this epidemic before every sense is gone? And can Susan and Michael’s fledgling relationship continue as events get darker?

From what I’ve read when Perfect Sense was released back in 2011, it was met with somewhat ambivalent reviews. I really can’t see why this is because the movie is fascinating on so many levels. While it has elements you can attribute to the science fiction genre, there is something achingly human about it. David Mackenzie successfully delves into the themes of what happens when something we rely so much on is gone and the way something that can’t be explained can impact on society. There are no real easy answers in Perfect Sense, nor should there be as Mackenzie crafts a melancholy examination of human endurance when a situation looks dire and the sense of loss that comes along as each sense is robbed from the population. The biggest question of all is ‘If the epidemic is related to emotions, how are we as humans meant to survive?’ There is a haunted quality to Perfect Sense that is perfectly embodied by the grey cinematography. Right from the beginning, there is a feeling of unease and darkness as the muted colours and scenery are rendered into a dour picture of uncertainty and sadness. And refreshingly though there is a romantic connection between the main characters, it doesn’t feel tacked on or needless. It actually lends the movie that something else that sets it apart from other science fiction movies. The morose narration reflects on the way that we take for granted what we have and is highly evocative in scenes shown around the world as the senses are taken from the unsuspecting. A trickling music score gives quiet voice to the encroaching panic that the epidemic spawns and the implications it has for Susan and Michael.

Heading the film is the excellent work of Ewan McGregor and Eva Green. Both are at their best playing these characters who are ordinary people caught in this time of horror that we can relate to. The characters are flawed just like everyone is and the performances really let both of them show off their skills. Embodying extreme emotions with subtlety and grace, McGregor and Green are nothing short of fantastic at investing Perfect Sense with a humanity and pathos that compliments the haunting tone of the film.

A foreboding film with a definite human heart, Perfect Sense is unusual but highly intriguing viewing as it explores so many avenues of possibilities, but refuses to pander to the audience that in turn leaves a feeling of mystery.

Moulin Rouge

Tags

2000's, Baz Luhrmann, Ewan McGregor, Jim Broadbent, John Leguizamo, Moulin Rouge, Musical, Nicole Kidman, Richard Roxburgh, Romance

Film Title

Moulin Rouge

Director

Baz Luhrmann

Starring

• Ewan McGregor as Christian
• Nicole Kidman as Satine
• Jim Broadbent as Harold Zidler
• Richard Roxburgh as The Duke
• John Leguizamo as  Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec

An utterly fantastical, spectacular musical romance, Moulin Rouge is a marvel to behold. With artistic flair and daring panache, Baz Luhrmann crafts an ambitious and boldly mounted extravaganza combining humour, passion and music.

The time is 1900 and young dreamy poet Christian moves to Montmartre, Paris to be among the burgeoning Bohemian writing movement. It isn’t long until Christian comes into contact with the eccentric Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec and his artistic circle. After seeing Christian’s deep talent for words, Toulouse and his friends persuade him to help them finish writing their new show that they want to sell. They take Christian to the decadent dance hall Moulin Rouge, were the dancing is frantic, the atmosphere charged and the sexuality is through the roof as it also doubles as a bordello. It is a place where the rich folk of Paris mingles with the underworld in gaudy business, boozy antics and seedy dealings. The plan is to sell the play to the garrulous owner and impresario Harold Zidler. The star of the Moulin Rouge is a beautiful courtesan named Satine who is a talented singer and wants to be an actress. Upon meeting her after a series of mishaps when she believes he is someone else, Christian is instantly in love and his way with poetry and genuine emotion soon makes these feelings reciprocated by the stunning Satine. The hitch to their flourishing romance is when Harold gets an investor for the play in the form of the unscrupulous Duke, who wants to be bound to Satine and slowly comes to see that Satine has feelings for someone else which causes his anger to considerably rise. As Christian and Satine conduct a concealed affair, there is also the secret matter that Satine is tragically dying of consumption. As the day of the show nears, love, jealousy and tragedy collide in spectacular fashion as the show must go on.

As soon as the movie starts with something akin to a fanfare, you just know that Moulin Rouge is going to be something special. Baz Luhrmann launches us into an intoxicating world of artistic flourishes and grand passions that benefits from and soars because of stunning set design, costumes and visuals. The way he shoots the scenes within the title dance hall are fantastic with quick cuts and a kinetic pace mixing as colourful skirts are lifted in the can can, decadent joy comes alive and a promise of love emerges for Christian in an exotic atmosphere. Moulin Rouge is nothing short of a feast for the senses and ears and Luhrmann knows how to engross us in a spellbinding fable with a tragic heart at the centre of it all. I especially love how the musical numbers are songs that are modern and transported into the old-fashioned setting with cheeky panache and chutzpah. I can’t explain why but I really get a kick out of hearing these contemporary numbers being performed in an archaic environment. Now there are those that will argue that Moulin Rouge is nothing more than grandiose style over substance. I can see where people may be coming from with that accusation, but I for one was too swept up in the movie and found that while the style was overwhelming in parts, there was still interesting characters and a love story in it that left me moved. The romance between Christian and Satine has a feeling of magic to it, they are really meant to be together but ultimately fate my have other plans for these designs and won’t let it be an easy ride for either.

Ewan McGregor is ideally cast as the naive poet Christian, who believes with all his being that love is essential to life. McGregor has a really genuine and earnest way about him here that we sympathise with Christian as his love for Satine is threatened by other forces. One should also note his excellent vocal skills that are mightily impressive to hear. The same can be said of Nicole Kidman, whose singing voice can be described as heavenly. She exudes such a vibrancy, joy and ultimately desperate sadness as the showgirl Satine slowly dying but finding her one true love. Kidman gives her all to the part and shows a flair for seductive comic scenes as well as deep emotional ones that show her incredible range. The ever-reliable Jim Broadbent steals every scene he’s in with his gusto, sense of humour and outrageous look as the showman Harold, who watches over his stars of the show but in particular Satine. Richard Roxburgh has a snake-like quality that he cloaks his character of The Duke in that makes him a very nasty piece of work indeed. John Leguizamo is an utter delight as the impish Toulouse who brings Christian into his circle of artists and writers.

Bold, breathtaking and impressively splendid, Moulin Rouge is simply put a wonderful musical brimming with life.

August: Osage County

Tags

2010's, Abigail Breslin, August: Osage County, Benedict Cumberbatch, Chris Cooper, Dermot Mulroney, Drama, Ewan McGregor, John Wells, Julia Roberts, Julianne Nicholson, Juliette Lewis, Margo Martindale, Meryl Streep, Misty Upham, Sam Shepard

Film Title

August: Osage County

Director

John Wells

Starring

• Meryl Streep as Violet Weston
• Julia Roberts as Barbara Weston-Fordham
• Ewan McGregor as Bill Fordham
• Juliette Lewis as Karen Weston
• Julianne Nicholson as Ivy Weston
• Chris Cooper as Charles Aiken
• Abigail Breslin as Jean Fordham
• Benedict Cumberbatch as ‘Little’ Charles Aiken
• Margo Martindale as Mattie Fae Aiken
• Dermot Mulroney as Steve Huberbrecht
• Sam Shepard as Beverly Weston
• Misty Upham as Johnna

A dark and intense examination of a family falling apart and suffering burdens after reuniting for a funeral, August: Osage County may not be the most comfortable film to watch. But with a talented ensemble cast and simmering tensions that eventually boil over, it sure makes for eventful and dramatic viewing.

In sweltering Oklahoma, Beverly Weston was once a respected poet whose work has declined in recent years and send him into consuming alcohol to drown his sorrows. Matter aren’t helped by his strong-willed and verbally abusive wife Violet, who is suffering from mouth cancer but is addicted to pills. Although he hires a young Native American caregiver called Johnna to help, the demands and abuse aimed at him by his wife proves too much. One day, Beverly has had enough of the torment and disappears. Days later, he is found drowned after taking his boat out on the lake. His extended family who have drifted apart reunite for his funeral. The rest of the family consists of Violet and Beverly’s daughters: wounded favourite Barbara, meek middle child Ivy and dippy youngest Karen.Barbara’s estranged husband Bill, their rebellious teenage daughter Jean, Violet’s sister Mattie Fae, her husband Charles, their shy son known as ‘Little’ Charles and Karen’s latest fiance Steve are also in attendance. As the family attempt to cope with their grief, various tensions and secrets soon take over and anger, resentment and bitterness threaten to destroy what is left of the already troubled and dysfunctional extended family.

As I previously mentioned, August Osage County isn’t the easiest film to sit through. With its flawed characters and feuds a plenty, this is not a bunch of characters who have lived a sunny existence. But then again, they’re not supposed to be the easiest characters to relate to and the under the skilled direction of John Wells, the film shows how they are all not as perfect as some of them make out. Dramatics are the order of the day as arguments and truths engulf the family, the verbal sparring is very well done and drips with venom as everyone begins to reach breaking point. Some scenes do lapse into melodrama occasionally and restraint isn’t exactly the films strong suit. The film may never truly escape its theatrical origins but in turn the confined setting of the Weston house gives the movie a claustrophobic and stifling atmosphere of intensity as the heat continues to rise and lies begin to spill out. The roving camerawork captures the heated emotions up close and personal and add to the themes of familial ties beginning to break and the difficult reasons why.

The impressive ensemble cast is what gives August: Osage County its intense impact. Meryl Streep is a force of nature as the acid spitting Violet, whose truth-telling begins to drive the fractured family apart. She impressively captures her strong-willed nature, but also a mean streak that often rears its ugly head in this time of pain. Yet, we do get to see the damaged side to Violet that occasionally shines through thanks to the splendid work of the talented Meryl Streep. Julia Roberts is equally impressive as her eldest daughter Barbara, who burns with anger towards her mother and the burdens placed on her. This is easily some of her best work as she imbues Barbara with a rage and ferocity rarely seen by Roberts before now. Ewan McGregor does his best in the role of Barbara’s estranged husband Bill, yet I don’t think he’s given enough to do to make him a memorable character in this escalating family saga. Juliette Lewis is flighty and gullible as Karen, whilst Julianne Nicholson offers a moving performance as the put upon Ivy. Chris Cooper embodies the moral centre of the dysfunctional family Charles, who sees exactly where the arguments and disagreements are going to lead. Margo Martindale is utilised well as Violet’s sister, who berates her timid son and seems to have got the same mean streak as her sister. Abigail Breslin is quietly sullen and alienated as Barbara’s teenage daughter Jean. Benedict Cumberbatch is sympathetic and vulnerable as Little Charles, who is secretly in a relationship with his cousin Ivy and constantly made to feel inadequate by his mother. Filling out the other roles effectively are Dermot Mulroney, who gives a sleazy edge to his character, Sam Shepard as the worn out Beverly whose death brought the family together and Misty Upham as the quiet caregiver to Violet.

It may be dark and pessimistic, but with the talented cast on electrifying form and the dysfunction cranked up to eleven, August: Osage County is nothing short of eventful in the dramatic stakes.