Review: ‘August: Osage County’

Family dysfunction doesn’t come much more dysfunctional than this.

Meryl Streep plays Violet, the family matriarch of the Weston clan. She has mouth cancer, but even this isn’t enough to keep her from voicing her displeasure with all and sundry around her. When her husband, an acclaimed poet, goes missing during a fishing trip, she assembles her family around her to help manage the crisis. However, her family are all dealing with crises of their own.

There are three daughters: Barbara, the underachiever who left town years ago and arrives with her philandering husband and their temperamental teenage daughter; Karen, the bubble-head who turns up in her sleazy boyfriend’s convertible, flaunting her happiness and the rock on her finger; and Ivy, the middle child who stayed nearby and nurses a secret about the painfully shy son of her aunt, Mattie-Fae.

That Mattie-Fae has her own complicated relationship with Beverly, the departed husband and father, further stokes Violet’s fire.

Fuelled by Percocet and a lifetime of regret, Violet lets loose on her family at the dinner party. It’s a painful scene, but also quietly and blackly humorous.

Streep attacks the role with such relish; clearly enjoying the opportunity to let loose and show the villainous side she hasn’t aired since The Devil Wears Prada. As far as acting chops go, Julia Roberts (who plays Barbara) matches Streep stride for stride, and their inevitable showdown is one of the film’s high points.

This is not an easy watch though. The family’s troubles are many, and they pile up one by one, to create a burden that is almost too heavy to bear. The constant shrieking and arguing grows wearisome after a while, and because the film begins on such a high emotional pitch, there is little relief from it throughout.

While the performances here are stellar, by keeping the film at such a high pitch, the whole film comes off a little shrill and almost cartoonish- which is a bit of a shame.

6/10

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