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August: Osage County (15)

Drama

A look at the lives of the strong-willed women of the Weston family, whose paths have diverged until a family crisis brings them back to the Oklahoma house they grew up in, and to the dysfunctional woman who raised them.

More information on this production is available at augustosagecountyfilm.com.

The critical consensus

It’s hysterical and hard to watch, but grimly compelling nonetheless.

***(*)(*)James Mottram, The List, 09/12/2013

This is a laboriously unpleasant picture about self-delusion and inherited bitterness.

**(*)(*)(*)Siobhan Synnot, The Scotsman, 19/01/2014

It takes a while to get going and never outstrips its theatrical origins but gets by on great actors working through meaty scenes. See it for Streep vs. Roberts alone.

***(*)(*)Ian Freer, Empire Online

Based on the play by Tracy Letts it’s claustrophobic, tiresome and dispiriting.

**(*)(*)(*)Henry Fitzherbert, Daily Express, 22/01/2014

Even the barest of stage-bound productions would bring more palpable claustrophobia and conviction than John Wells’ flat direction, which serves to hinder the translation of what’s likely a much more cohesive, less overall numbing dramatic work in its original incarnation.

**(*)(*)(*)Josh Slater-Williams, The Skinny, 23/01/2014

Stellar performances, not least from Streep and Roberts, distract from less-than-imaginative filmmaking.

Matthew Thrift, Little White Lies, 23/01/2014

This classy adap of a much-garlanded stage play will appeal to discerning audiences who can tolerate unpleasant characters with potty mouths if they're played by Oscar winners.

****(*)Neil Smith, Total Film, 13/01/2014

It’s little more than a histrionic piece of Oscar bait, an overly prescriptive melodrama in which a bunch of showboating movie stars get to overact in the company of Meryl Streep.

**(*)(*)(*)Alistair Harkness, The Scotsman, 25/01/2014

The drama itself is an unwieldy mix of Chekhovian elements and Dallas-style melodrama.

**(*)(*)(*)Geoffrey MacNab, The Independent, 23/01/2014

Everyone has their own terrible grievance; everyone gets a big moment: it just looks like an entire soap season condensed into a self-consciously upscale feature, and often the dialogue has an entropic tendency towards shouting.

**(*)(*)(*)Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian, 23/01/2014

With such fireworks from the cast, it's a shame Wells's direction is so dowdy, allowing the action to proceed from one theatrical setpiece to the next with little sense of cinematic cohesion.

***(*)(*)Mark Kermode, The Observer, 26/01/2014


Features about August: Osage County (15)

Tracy Letts: 'August: Osage County has always only ended one way'

Katey Rich, The Guardian, 16/01/2014

Where and when?

General release. Check local listings for show times.

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