*Spoilers*
August: Osage County is a story about substance abuse and the toll it takes on the addicted and the people who love them. The story focuses mainly on Violet Weston (Meryl Streep) a pill addicted, “truth-telling”, loud mouth, mean, strong-willed women, with mouth cancer; and the relationship she has with her sister and three daughters as they work through the grief associated with the suicide of father and husband Beverly Weston  (Sam Shepard); a poet, scholar, and kind-hearted, “son-of-a-bitch” alcoholic.
The opening scene is of Beverly as he interviews a new live in caregiver Johnna (Misty Upham), a very sweet, quiet, “Native American” lady. Â During this scene you learn that he is an alcoholic and that his wife, Violet has mouth cancer, and is addicted to pills of all kinds. He alludes to the fact that he will not be around to care for Violet, which is the reason he has decided to hire Johnna. In the middle of the interview Violet stumbles down the stairs looking a complete mess while out of her mind on some sweet concoction of pills. It is the first and only time you see the dynamic between Beverly and Violet, she is clearly out of control and he is clearly at his wit’s end with her.
Shortly after this scene it is revealed that Beverly has gone missing and daughters: Ivy (Julianne Nicholson), Barbara (Julia Roberts), and Karen (Juliette Lewis),  along Aunt Mattie Far (Margo Martindale) come together to  help keep Violet from falling apart, and to figure out what happened to Beverly. One by one you are introduced to each daughter; Ivy the “single” one, Barbara who is married to Bill (Ewan McGregor) and their daughter Jean (Abigail Breslin), Karen and her new fiancé Steve (Dermot Mulroney), and Charlie (Chris Cooper), Mattie Far’s husband. The night after everyone has arrived they receive  a knock on the door and it’s reveled that Beverly’s body has been found.
From here the story gets interesting with the dynamic between all the characters being reveled, and despite the above spoilers there is still a lot of deep dysfunction including, incest, adultery, and more drugs.
***
This movie is basically an acting powerhouse, I honestly have yet to figure out if I like the movie or just the acting. Â Meryl Streep and Julia Roberts together are AMAZING. Even if you dislike one or both of these actresses you will be blown away by the caliber of acting between the two of them; they complement one another perfectly. Â Margo Martindale, Chris Cooper, and Ewan McGregor also do an amazing job, the raw honest emotion they all display is phenomenal they go above and beyond that of the normal supporting actor.
The story despite being filled with emotional twists and turns leaves you wanting a bit more. Secrets are reveled one by one like a slap in the face but dropped moments later, not giving you enough time to understand what has really been revealed. Happy endings do not exist at all, do not go in expecting to feel warm and fuzzy about any of the characters’ situations, even the stories within the story are depressing. The one thing I suppose you take way is that sometimes it is ok to give up and move on, that sometimes you have to do what is right only for you. Hell maybe this is the entire point of the story… but after watching this cluster continue for two hours and one minute it would have been great for some sort of narrator to point this fact out so you do not have to watch it a second time.
Overall this movie will make you feel better about your family station, so maybe see it for that reason, as well as to see Meryl and Julia for the first time in person on-screen together. Other than that wait for it to come on to Netflix streaming when you are bored and have nothing else to watch.
Here incase you have no idea of what movie this entire write-up is about is the Trailer:
Enjoy 😉
