One True Thing Review
by "Brian Koller" (kollers AT shell DOT mpsi DOT net)September 28th, 1998
One True Thing (1998)
Grade: 77
"One True Thing" has a very high quality to entertainment ratio. While it is certainly a very good film, with an excellent cast and script, it is a difficult film to watch. While the advertising campaign would have you believe that the film is heartwarming, the emotional impact is closer to wrenching.
George (William Hurt) is a successful college professor and author. His upper class family consists of kindly socialite wife Kate (Meryl Streep), and their two grown children: outspoken reporter Ellen (Renee Zellweger) and gentle screw-up Brian (Tom Everett Scott).
Ellen has grown up worshipping her father and rejecting her mother. By becoming a reporter, she is emulating her father's writing profession, and by remaining single, she has avoided the charitable and housewife roles of her mother.
Unhappily, Kate develops cancer and undergoes chemotherapy. George asks his daughter to leave her job in New York and help her mother. Ellen reluctantly agrees, and the decision changes her life. Her career and her boyfriend become secondary to her family, and she realizes that her childhood opinion of her parents was wrong.
Ellen discovers that her mother is strong and selfless, while her father is weak and selfish. In general, men do not come off well in "One True Thing". Her brother Brian is flunking out of school and is like a lost puppy, while her boyfriend Jordan (Nicky Katt) has all the weaknesses of her father with none of his strengths.
"One True Thing" is certain to receive some Academy Award nominations. Streep will likely be nominated for Best Actress, and Karen Croner will likely be nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay, based on a novel by Anna Quindlen.
The usual opening night audience of teens and young adults was replaced by middle-aged adults, compelled by the Streep and Hurt names. The audience was generally silent, but occasionally shuddered during the more revealing moments.
"One True Thing" is not an entertaining film, but it is an important film. The audience is challenged to confront terminal illness and devastating disappointment in family members. While "One True Thing" may be an emotionally draining film, it is well worth the effort.
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