Prior to August: OsageCounty, the last filmmaker to turn a Tracy Letts play into a film was William Friedkin, who made the correct decision to embrace Letts’ cynicism and create a violent little thriller that some might call “gratuitous.” Granted, Killer Joe didn’t have the prestige factor of the Pulitzer-winning August, but the the bitter Oklahoma family of John Wells’ adaptation isn’t much different from the bitter Texan family of Friedkin’s superior film, a difference that Wells doesn’t seem to realize. There’s a cognitive disconnect between Letts’ material and Wells’ awkwardly sentimental treatment of it. The family of August: Osage County is not a group of ornery eccentrics who love each other, even when when they fight. This family is full of vicious, mean, and emotionally abusive people, but it’s hard to figure that out when Bon Iver perks up the soundtrack.
Meryl Streep is given another chance to show off her generous talents as Violet, the pill-popping family matriarch with an acidic tongue. Julia Roberts plays her long suffering daughter while Margo Martindale stands out as her sister. The cast includes a consortium of recognizable names and faces (Chris Cooper, Ewan MacGregor, and Benedict Cumberbatch to name a few), each one adding to the film’s aspirations of prestige. The family arrives at the Weston manor on the eve of the Beverly Weston’s suicide (Sam Shepard as the family patriarch) and they spend the following days bickering, fighting, and hurting each other in whatever ways they can. The characters begin to leave the manor in the order of most sane to most angry, transforming the film into the psychological cousin of an Agatha Christie mystery: only the most fucked up Weston will still be there in the end.
Wells directs the film as if there is meaning to this madness, but Letts’ source material belies that attitude. Our empathy for these characters can be found in realizing they would be better off without their family, not vice versa. There are laughs to be found in August: Osage County. The gallows humour of the play cuts through film’s patina of self-importance on a number of occasions, but you’re probably better off sticking with a local production instead of this film.
August: Osage County had its world premiere last night, but will also screen today at the Elgin Theatre at 11:00am.
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Alan Jones writes about film for Toronto Standard. You can follow him on Twitter at @alanjonesxxxv.
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