Word: redford
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Ordinary People tires very hard to be a great movie, and because it tries so hard it succeeds very badly. I say this feelingly. Redford is earnest, and for this he must be respected; earnestness is a quality to be prized these days. But of course earnestness can't carry a movie--talent must be added somewhere, and vision. There is little of either to be found in Ordinary People. It is not so much a movie about depressed people as a movie that is depressed itself, a movie that sits alone in its room and stares at the ceiling...
Indeed, the people of The Seagull are pretty much the same as those in Ordinary People, mutatis mutandis. Redford, though, is not Chekhov. The purpose of art of this sort is to take the ordinary and make it extraordinary--this he has failed to do. He brings little in the way of creativity or technical resources to his film, only a lot of self-conscious artiness which he takes to its furthest extremes, directorial touches which never coalesce. It all starts with the opening credits, white letters on black background, no sound: "Oh, Christ," you think--"not another American Bergman...
...becoming a cartoon; Timothy Hutton is impressive throughout, although distanced somewhat by his technique, and reminiscent in his mannerisms, of James Dean. When the actors do lapse, though, they look like they're auditioning for a Method class in the Village, and this can probably be chalked up to Redford...
...mother's characterization is the biggest problem with Sargent's screenplay, but not the only one. He and Redford try to work with symbols--the silver napkin rings, a doorbell, a lack of pets in the house, a broken plate--details that fail to accumulate, leaving a mess. It's all too obvious; just so the dialogue...
...mother and the son can't communicate--get it? There is no surer sign of an amateur than this sort of narrative intrusion; Ordinary People goes, not from situations to ideas, but from ideas to illustrations. Sargent and Redford might as well come in front of the proscenium and tell us what they're thinking. We'd all get home a lot sooner...