Ordinary People (Widescreen): Amazon.ca: DVD: DVD

Product Description

Amazon.com Essential Video

Robert Redford made his Oscar-winning directorial debut with this highly acclaimed, poignantly observant drama (based on the novel by Judith Guest) about a well-to-do family's painful adjustment to tragedy. Mary Tyler Moore and Donald Sutherland play a seemingly happy couple who lose the older of their two sons to a boating accident; Timothy Hutton plays the surviving teenage son, who blames himself for his brother's death and has attempted suicide to end his pain. They live in a meticulously kept home in an affluent Chicago suburb, never allowing themselves to speak openly of the grief that threatens to tear them apart. Only when the son begins to see a psychiatrist (Judd Hirsch) does the veneer of denial begin to crack, and Ordinary People thenceforth directly examines the broken family ties and the complexity of repressed emotions that have festered under the pretense of coping. Superior performances and an Oscar-winning script by Alvin Sargent make this one of the most uncompromising dramas ever made about the psychology of dysfunctional families. There are moments--particularly related to Mary Tyler Moore's anguished performance as a woman incapable of expressing her deepest emotions--when this film is both intensely involving and heartbreakingly real. No matter how happy and healthy your upbringing was, there's something in this excellent film that everyone can relate to. --Jeff Shannon

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Customer Reviews

106 Reviews

5 star:		(85)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(3)

Average Customer Review

4.6 out of 5 stars (106 customer reviews)

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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars An Unfortunate DVD For A Classic Drama, Jun 26 2003

By

Stephen Olinsky (Val Therese, Ontario, Canada) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)

This review is from: Ordinary People (Widescreen) (DVD)

Let me first say that 5 stars is for the movie ONLY, and NOT the DVD.

This release from Paramount Pictures was sure as heck making alot of the film's fans smile, waiting for the DVD for so long. But yet again we've been swindled by another bare-bones DVD release, with only an original theatrical trailer and a 10 scene chapter selection, which seems utterly ridiculous for a two hour movie; I always end up fast-forwarding to the scene I want. The widescreen transfer is not too bad though. I was very happy to find out that this is a clean, TRUE 1.85:1 widescreen picture (I'm thankful it wasn't matted) that favors the right side of the screen. But as for the audio, it's English mono with hiss and pop throughout the picture, which makes the movie experience half-and-half; the picture clean, the audio scratchy.

Also, for those movie nuts out there who love watching a movie with Closed Captioning will be dissapointed. They are illegitimate at best, which also makes it unfair for the deaf and hard of hearing to enjoy the movie the way it's meant to be. I happen to get really annoyed when I watch a movie with very slow captioning. So then it looks like this:
[Captioning] "After Buck died, dad came into my room. He didn't know what to say. He put his arm around me. We just sat there."
[What He Actually Said] "My father came into my room, an-- and he didn't know what to say. This is-- this is right after Buck died. And, uh, he came over and he sat on the bed right next to me, put his arm around my shoulder, and we just sat there."
I feel that it kills the emotion of what's being said.

It is these kind of DVD releases that make us happy hearing it's coming, and make us dissapointed after the purchase. I'm hoping that Paramount will smarten up in the future and not go forth childishly releasing DVDs with VHS-like quality and lazy Closed Captioning.

2 stars for an OK picture transfer. I just wish it could have been better...

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5.0 out of 5 stars Not an Ordinary Film, April 14 2005

By

"crazy_kootenay_girl" (Montreal, Quebec) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Ordinary People (Widescreen) (DVD)

Every once in a while, a film comes along that makes you want to destroy your TV set. This film is it for me. Watching America's sweetheart transform herself into a distant, emotionless, cold woman was almost too much for me. I wanted to throw something at my TV. And I continued to watch, mostly in shock as the story unfolded. The direction was amazing. Robert Redford paced this film to perfection. The score - Pachabel's canon was perfect. The acting was so fantastic, it was unbellievable how believable they were. Timothy Hutton received a well deserved Oscar. Mary Tyler Moore was denied her much deserved oscar for this film. Donald Sutherland and Judd Hirsh put it all together with amazing performances. I just can't say enough; the film left me speechless. It was, in one word, brilliant.

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5.0 out of 5 stars One of the best films of all time, July 10 2004

By

J. Newberry "rocky boy" (Dallas, Texas United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)

This review is from: Ordinary People (VHS Tape)

Well, this film is easily one of the best I've ever seen. I saw it for the first time around 1981. It was odd, since i was watching with my own dysfunctional family when I was about 14. It's a film that moves you every time you watch it and you can take away something different each time. This is the mark of superb writing, acting and directing. I can't believe that this was Redford's first attempt at directing. It boggles the mind. Just the natural scenes of suburban Chicago alone are well-done.
Although Mary Tyler Moore, Sutherland and Hirch do fantastic jobs as Conrad's parents and psychiatrist, trying to get inside his head, it was Hutton's performance as Conrad that moved me most. He portrays the son left behind by a brother who died in a boating accident. When the movie begins, Conrad has just returned to "normal" after being in the hospital for months due to a suicide attempt. It is ironic that the title is "ordinary" people as this family is far from ordinary. But Hutton's performance, with both emotionality and such a sense of emptiness is one of the most vivid performances I've ever seen. What ever happened to Tim Hutton anyway ?
Mary Tyler Moore's performance of the cold Beth, who seems to still blame Conrad on her favorite son Buck's death, is impeccable. It really makes sense that you could get performances out of her and Tim Hutton of this caliber since both just lost a relative (she her son and Hutton his father) right before filming. Donald Sutherland really portrays the kind of father everyone wants, let's just admit it. He cares very much about his son ! To the point that he would visit his shrink to learn more about what he's going through. Excellent performance and I still don't know why he wasn't nominated.
I could write a short book about this film. Suffice it to say that everyone should see it, despite whether you view your family of origin as dysfunctional or not. We can all relate to certain themes: hiding feelings, being afraid to face pain, facing pain and not knowing what to do with it, loss of friendship, loss of love, "walking on eggshells" in your own home. Ordinary People is an extraordinary film !

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Most recent customer reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars healing with counseling
I first saw the movie & then read Judith Guest's book. Both made a deep impression on me. The movie is passionately & beautifully made & all the acting superb. Read more

Published on May 14 2004 by Rebecca Brown

5.0 out of 5 stars Possibly the best film of my generation.
This is a mini review of one of my all time top 10 favorite films

Robert Redford's directorial debut is a wonderful adaptation of Judith Guest's novel about a suburban Chicago... Read more