August : Osage County

 AUGUST : OSAGE COUNTY

Director : John Wells
Year : 2014
Genre : Drama
Rating : ****

 

Meryl Streep heads an all star cast in John Wells' sun baked 'August : Osage County', a blistering adaptation of Tracy Lett's Pulitzer Prize winning stage play of the same name. Set in the barren cornfields of a Summer scorched Oklahoma, the film tells the story of the highly dysfunctional Weston family who reluctantly reunite after an unexpected personal tragedy. As the family slowly reassembles itself at the home of the drug addled, cancer stricken matriarch Violet (played with the usual award-worthy verve by Streep), grudges, dormant feuds and petty arguments are quickly reignited as stories of betrayal, incest, and abandonment make their way out of the rotting woodwork. Quiet mealtimes soon turn into vicious, plate-throwing arguments as Westons young and old quickly turn against each other in an attempt to regain their individual familial authority and collective dignity. 

Cutting down the running time of the 2007 play by over an hour, 'August : Osage County' streamlines Tracy Lett's acerbic tale into 1 hour and 54 minutes of venom filled insults and hard hitting truths. There is not one character who we can remotely empathise with throughout the movie and Well's intrusive directorial style places us right in the middle of this maelstrom of cruelty and hatred. Thankfully, the astonishing performances from the entire cast turn 'August : Osage County' from an unpleasant experience into a darkly comic and perversely entertaining one. 

While Streep is reliably strong and deliciously venomous as the utterly irredeemable Violet; a character who would give Elizabeth Taylor's scathing Martha a run for her money, the incomparable Julia Roberts steals the show as Barbara, one of the three daughters who blames her mother for her fathers apparent suicide. Putting her 'Pretty Woman' and 'Notting Hill' past behind her, Roberts delivers a viciously aggressive performance that rivals the best of her Academy Award laden co-star's illustrious career. The rest of the cast which includes such superstars as Ewan McGregor, Juliette Lewis, Benedict Cumberbatch, Chris Cooper, Margo Martindale, Dermot Mulroney and Abigail Breslin all deliver wonderfully caustic performances and each brings a lot of depth and hateful remorse to their respective characters.

Nominated for two Oscars as well a number of other prestigious awards, 'August : Osage County' is a gratifyingly unsavoury picture that makes the most of it's claustrophobic and stiflingly sweltering environments to engulf us in a world of uncomfortable truths and painfully honest admissions. While it may not be as conventionally cinematic as other Tracy Lett's stage to screen adaptations such as the hauntingly bleak 'Bug' or the darkly comic horror/thriller 'Killer Joe', (both directed by William Friedkin),  'August : Osage County' is still a rip roaring drama that may be low on plot but high in unbridled acting talent.