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Tag Archives: Margo Martindale

Lorenzo’s Oil

17 Tuesday May 2016

Posted by vinnieh in Movie Reviews

≈ 20 Comments

Tags

1990's, Based on a true story, Drama, George Miller, Lorenzo's Oil, Margo Martindale, Nick Nolte, Peter Ustinov, Susan Sarandon, Zack O'Malley Greenburg

Film Title

Lorenzo’s Oil

Director

George Miller

Starring

  • Susan Sarandon as Michaela Odone
  • Nick Nolte as Augusto Odone
  • Peter Ustinov as Professor Nikolais
  • Margo Martindale as Wendy Gimble
  • Zack O’Malley Greenburg as Lorenzo Odone

A harrowing but inspiring true story is brought to the screen in the drama Lorenzo’s Oil. Focusing on Augusto and Michaela Odone’s unending determination and eventual success in finding a treatment to stabilize their son’s terminal disease, it gains power and deep emotion from heartfelt direction and most successfully two outstanding performances from Susan Sarandon and Nick Nolte.

Lorenzo Odone is a five-year-old boy as the movie opens, full of energy and brightness. He lives initially with his banker father Augusto and mother Michaela in the Comoros. Lorenzo's Oil Movie PosterThe family then relocates back to the United States and this is when things become very worrying for young Lorenzo. He begins to lose some of his hearing, has convulsions and displays neurological problems. His concerned parents have him evaluated and he is then diagnosed with the rare and complex disease ALD, which is usually fatal within two years and . Reeling from the prognosis, Michaela and Augusto find that no doctor is able to treat the disease because of how rare it is. But instead of sitting back and waiting for the inevitable, Michaela and Augusto begin their search for a treatment. Despite neither of them having any real knowledge in medical or scientific study, they soon bury their heads in research, reviewing records of tests and trying any means necessary to treat their son. Along the way, the couple are met with adversity and skepticism from support groups, doctors and scientists who are all about going through the proper channels and waiting until something is found. Undettered by the fact that nothing is in their favour, the two parents continue their crusade, hanging on by sheer will and faith that they will find something and not be torn apart by everything. Lorenzo's OilEventually they manage to discover the usage of two types of oil that will break the boundaries of modern medicine and assist in stabilizing young Lorenzo’s condition, that many said couldn’t be treated.

George Miller as director crafts this inspiring film from the true story and keeps it rooted in emotion and faith. I admire the way that Miller successfully didn’t make Lorenzo’s Oil yet another  ‘Disease of the week’ style movie, instead bringing forth the heart and steadfast love that both parents exhibit and are willing to use if it means saving their son from an early death. Employing unusual angles and quick camera shots to place us right in the middle of the harrowing turn of events that befall’s Lorenzo and his family, before making the camera smoothly operated as a tiny glimmer of hope begins to appear when at first it looked as if there was none to find. Nick Nolte and Susan SarandonDespite the fact that the audience knows the outcome of the story, this shouldn’t be held against Lorenzo’s Oil as it really cranks up the tension throughout as the Odone’s bury themselves in anything that can be of help to their boy in a desperate time. If anything knowing that the family succeed only makes the film more inspiring and triumphant as it shows the tenacity of their hopes and research, that many wrote off as in vain but was proven wrong.

A major high point of Lorenzo’s Oil is the cast, in particular Susan Sarandon and Nick Nolte as the crusading Odone’s. Both actors pour the hearts and souls into the roles and it really shows. Susan Sarandon is a force of nature as Michaela, who holds firm that her son will survive and won’t listen to anyone else who says otherwise. Susan Sarandon Lorenzo's OilPart of this is why I found her performance so compelling, she never sugar coats the woman or makes her saintly. She snaps at others who don’t share her faith and can be ruthless in order to get what she wants, but all of that comes from a place of love and the soulful eyes of Susan Sarandon wonderfully portray this. Nick Nolte, sporting an Italian accent that gets easier to listen to as the film progresses, is equally as good as Augusto, who throws himself into research. He is the more rational of the two parents, yet while their attitudes at times of what is best to do clash, they are both united in their goal to save their son and Nolte sensitively displays this. Peter Ustinov is very good as a medical professor who wants to help, but whose hands are tied due to ethics, time and bureaucracy. Margo Martindale is hugely effective as the mother of two children afflicted with the disease and is one of the few people to be of support to the Odone’s. As the young Lorenzo, Zack O’Malley Greenburg shows him in the beginning as a vibrant child who is then struck with the disease that affects him significantly and cruelly.

Truly moving, evocatively performed by the cast and never falling into cloying sentimentality, Lorenzo’s Oil is a stirring account of determination in the face of hopelessness and the fighting spirit of a parent’s love for their child.

August: Osage County

30 Sunday Nov 2014

Posted by vinnieh in Movie Reviews

≈ 38 Comments

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. August Osage County posterAlthough 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. August Osage County Violet and BarbaraJulia 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.

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