Marvin's Room
(1996)
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Upon receiving a call from her leukemia-stricken sister after not speaking with her for two decades, a devil-may-care single mother packs up her two sons--one, a rebellious teen who has spent time in a mental institution--and heads to Florida to reunite with her ailing sibling and their bedridden father. The women's differences in philosophy immediately spark a wrenching confrontation, but help arrives from the most unexpected of sources--the delinquent teen, whose reluctance to accept the family he never knew ultimately melts away when he discovers his aunt's true spirit. An acclaimed drama, adapted by Scott McPherson from his 1990 stage play. |
Based on the play by Scott McPherson, who adapted his work for the screen before dying of an Aids-related illness, this drama never quite escapes its theatrical roots. Nevertheless, this character-driven tale benefits from a clutch of restrained and impressive performances, including one from a pre-Titanic Leonardo DiCaprio. Diane Keaton plays a carer who has been looking after her bedridden father for years, but who is forced to ask her estranged sister Meryl Streep for help after she is told she has leukaemia. To complicate family relations further, Streep arrives with her two sons — Hal Scardino and DiCaprio — and a stubbornness that makes you realise why the sisters have stayed apart for so long. Keaton was nominated for an Oscar for her portrayal of the proud spinster battling a debilitating disease, but kudos should go to the entire cast, especially Hume Cronyn as the grumpy dad and Gwen Verdon as an eccentric aunt whom Keaton also looks after.
Halliwell's Film Guide
A movie that betrays its theatrical origins, and which gives its cast the opportunity for acting with the stops full out, of which they take full advantage.