Terms of Endearment, written by James L. Brooks and Larry McMurtry, based on the book by the latter and directed by the former - 10 out of 10

Terms of Endearment, written by James L. Brooks and Larry McMurtry, based on the book by the latter and directed by the former

10 out of 10

This is a note on the film, based on the book

The under signed has been so thrilled and elated by the divine Lonesome Dove, the Pulitzer Prize Winner written by the author of the book on which this winner of Five Oscars, for Best Picture, Best Actress in a Leading Role, Best Director, Best Screenplay and Best Actor in a Supporting Role, included on The New York Times’ Best 1,000 Movies Ever Made list - https://www.listchallenges.com/new-york-times-best-1000-movies-ever-made/list/22 - that he has read it twice and loved it - http://realini.blogspot.com/2018/08/lonesome-dove-by-larry-mcmurtry-10-out.html ...

Another splendorous movie, Hud, with legendary Paul Newman in the leading role, has also been based on the work by the same fantastic Larry McMurtry - http://realini.blogspot.com/2018/01/hud-based-on-novel-by-larry-mcmurtry.html - and to come back to Terms of Endearment, though it may seem to some as the classic Crying Game, the melodrama that touches audiences, it does have depth and the fact that one of the main personages dies might be seen as adding to the truthfulness, veracity of the screenplay, which is used with brilliance by Shirley MacLaine, who won the Oscar for her leading role, as Aurora Greenway, who is in her middle age, advancing towards old age, though that is relative for the seventies seem to be the new fifties or maybe forties, depending on how far we go back in history…there was a time when most died before they reached forty.

She is courted by some men, including the mesmerizing, mirthful Vernon Dahlart aka Danny DeVito, when her daughter, Emma Horton aka Debra winger, also nominated for the top Oscar, marries the apparently helpless, naïve Flap Horton aka Jeff Daniels, and they have to move away from the mother hen, all the way from Texas to Iowa, where he would work as a professor, with a rather small income, especially when they would have three children, but some significant success among his students, part of it not scholarly, but romantic, given occasion to an extramarital affair.

Aurora, though a grandmother, an idea she hates so much as to perhaps contribute to the suggestion that the daughter has an abortion – the fact that she is married to what the mother in law sees as a helpless case does not change the scope of the older woman – is interested in her neighbor, the former astronaut Garrett Breedlove aka spectacular Jack Nicholson, another Oscar winner in this film, who has to cope with the age, at the stage we meet him, he is dating a couple of much younger women, when drunk, he falls on the pavement and hurts his head, causing one of the girls to emphasize his age and the lack of control he appears to have…

Garrett is interested in Aurora, but more in a passing way, because he looks like he wants to philander and not settle, he is more into the hedonistic side of things and less concerned with the Eudaimonia, the longer term, deeper, resilient Joy and bliss, that is until his relationship with the mature, smart, provocative neighbor reaches a higher, more rewarding stage, which is not attained before some rather amusing, ridiculous battles, when the two go out for a meal, she is all out of her hair in the convertible that would mess all her appearance and then they get drunk, he falls into the sea, as they drive on the shore, with him almost standing and controlling to a degree the car, but nevertheless, the woman maneuvers abruptly and he is thrown into the waves…

Emma Horton is in the middle of a depression, with so little cash that she is facing a shameful adversity at the cashier, when she finds she does not have enough money for the groceries and the woman who is there makes it a whole lot worse, until the gentle, if too virginal Sam burns aka John Lithgow – the cast of the movie is nec plus ultra, glorious – intervenes and pays for the difference, then meets with the married woman – he is also married, though his wife had stopped having sex with him for years, because of some back pain and a refusal to contemplate sitting on top of him or any other coital position – and they get close and eventually they have an affair…

When Flap Horton is offered another position, in yet another state, they move again, though it is awful to see the woman he had had an affair with – and looks like he still has – also present at the new work place and sensible enough, Emma is infuriated with the father of three children who is not only pushing his spouse against the metaphorical wall, in the sense that she is using all her energy to deal with the children, the elder one of whom is rather difficult and apparently hateful of his mother, but he is also making a grave situation impossible with his going out of marriage with another female…

Hence, Emma is back with Aurora at her mansion, together with all the kids and she would eventually have to face a tragic situation, though we would not delve into that, but just limit to state that the connection between the grandmother and the astronaut is looking much better, after ups and downs, the wild swimmer and womanizer might think of steeling down with the neighbor that looked like antagonizing him and bringing the worst aspects …

This film is many ways a tour de force, explaining the selection of the Academy Award which picked it up for the Best Motion Picture, though among the other Nominees, The Big chill, The Dresser, probably The Right Stuff and surely Fanny and Alexander – notwithstanding the fact that before Parasite, for which Trump could not read the subtitles as some have it, while Seth Meyers rightly and comically pointed out that the Fat Donnie cannot even say the United States, there has been no Foreign Film winner of Best Picture…