Terms of Endearment

It rates a resounding yes because it doesn't insult our emotional intelligence. [23 Nov 1983]

Terms of Endearment is the rare commercial picture that sets audiences to laughing hysterically and crying unashamedly, sometimes within consecutive seconds, and then shoos them out of the theatre in contented emotional exhaustion. [23 Nov 1983]

This is a wonderful film. There isn't a thing that I would change.

Lopsided comedy turned tearjerker, saved by excellent performances.

Terms of Endearment is a funny, touching, beautifully acted film that covers more territory than it can easily manage.

James L. Brooks's clever and witty cry-a-long which has as many guys pretending not to cry, as women unashamedly sobbing.

The dual-track plot, with constant cutting between mother and daughter, seems less an attempt to establish meaningful parallels between the two stories than the nervous twitches of a compulsive channel changer.

This is such a fine piece of art. The dialogue and the relationship between the characters is so special. Such a warm hearted and incredibly funny entertaining movie at times. It is a roller coaster ride of emotions. The acting is about as good as acting can get. Terrific performances.

costlier yet feasible terms.. Terms Of Endearment 4 Out Of 5 Terms Of Endearment is a plot driven feature of a family that goes through ups and downs to a range like no other tale takes you to. The chemistry among the characters is depicted from the scratch which helps the makers create the bonding with the viewers too; a slick move by the writers. It is rich on technical aspects like background score, cinematography, costume design, sound department and editing. The writing is strong, inspiring, emotional and a bit edgy that helps blend it all in and still keep it grounded and resonate with reality to keep it connected among the audience. The adapted screenplay by James L. Brooks is smart, gripping and layered with a thought-provoking soul and reasoning within it that ups the ante of the game. James L. Brooks; the director, is on his A game and doing some of his best work on executing this deep and impactful script on screen that pitches straight to the viewers and meddles with the emotions. The performance objective is scored majestically by the protagonist Debra Winger and is supported thoroughly by Shirley MacLaine, Jack Nicholson, Jeff Denials and John Lithgow. Terms Of Endearment is costlier yet feasible terms that turns out more mature than we usually get in latter stages.

Préparez les violons, sortez les mouchoirs, ça va chialer dans les chaumières, Tendres Passions est dans la place ! (wesh-wesh-yo-bien-ou-bien-ta-race-batard ?). En vérité, il est un peu injuste de résumer le film à ses épanchements, car les premiers deux tiers (voire plus si affinités) sont assez drôles et doivent beaucoup au duo MacLaine-Nicholson, un duo qui étincelle à tout crin. Mais tout de même, ces épanchements susmentionnés, c'est l'avalanche des chutes du Niagara. Evidemment, tout le film, toute l'histoire n'est qu'une préparation pour ce moment précis où mère pondeuse tombe malade et laisse en rade ses trois chiards dont l'aîné, le plus grand, le plus teigneux, le plus con... et le mari peu exemplaire (on en remet une couche, c'est mieux). Il y a cette idolâtrie de la "mère-courage" que ne renieraient pas les Amiches, la mère dévouée à sa marmaille et en butte à sa propre mère autoritaire et possessive (une autre couche, radine pas, putain). Au fait, ai-je dit que Debra Winger est fantastique ? non, je ne l'ai pas dit, alors je le dis : Debra Winger est fantastique. Donc le film n'est pas mauvais : le rire puis les larmes... mais j'ai toujours cette impression, une impression désagréable, celle d'un excès de comédie et d'un trop-plein de pathos... ah oui : trop de couches décidément.

[SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers.]

Okay, Terms of Endearment won all of the noticeable Oscars for 1983, and since most people will be checking this movie out/ criticising it based on the amount of oscars it won, so will I. Best Picture - I personally dont think this movie deserved to win Best Picture of the year, i dont know what other notable works has been nominated in 1983, but i did not think Terms of Endearment is at all a cinematic achievement, like most Best Picture winners tend to be. Terms of Endearment is entertaining but that's all it is, it isn't bravura filmmaking, it isnt showing us things we haven't ever seen before, it's basically a formula chick flick, only better than the usual garbage that is being produced these last couple of years. Best Screenplay - Here is where the movie's main faults come in, the Screenplay is very bland and uninvolved, the screenplay is neither funny nor emotionally evocative, the characters arent interesting, nor do you feel compassion for them. Except Jack Nicholson's character, who is a clear stand out with a good performance playing a delightful character, the rest of the characters are all pretty much uninteresting, and you dont feel anything for them. The reason for that is the constant jumping forward in time, something like that could make simple story (which Terms for Endearment is) more captivating and interesting to watch, but how it is done here results in the audience being unable to fully connect with the characters, and it skips forward just when it gets interesting and when you want to see more. (Especially in the beginning of the film) Also, the ending was very predictable, the screenwriter wanted to make this film an emotional adventure so he chose the easy way out to just have a main character die in the end, which i was expecting since the story wasn't going anywhere half where through. and there is another problem, a movie like this (a movie that doesnt really have a story/ a structured beginning and end) must be really captivating to work. (structureless/episodic films) Movies like this are difficult to make and succeed at, but it is possible, take La Dolce Vita for instance, that movie doesnt really have a firm story, it doesnt have a perfect beginning, middle and end, but it works because the rest is soo perfect. Unlike La Dolce Vita, Terms of Endearment has no solid clue what it's about, it's just a section of the lives of some people... Best Director - Best Picture and Best Director usually go hand-in-hand for me, i personally thought legend filmmaker Ingmar Bergman should've won Best Director for Fanny Och Alexander. Best Actress, Shirley MacLaine - The character she plays is one-note, she doesnt have a character arc, she doesnt change behavior (at least not that much) which makes her an interesting character to look at. The way she's played by MacLaine really isnt all that great either, in emotional parts she seems vastly mediocre, in more eccentric parts of the film she gives a hammy performance, that comes close to overacting. She was fine, but not all that great, she should've won for The Apartment, where she was much more delightful. Best Actor, Jack Nicholson - Not his best performance but certainly something different, he plays a normal guy, but still shows what Nicholson does best, being sarcastic and funny. His character certainly is a secondary character, he doesnt have much screen time, MacLaine, Daniels and Winger certainly have the most screen time, but whenever Jack is on screen he is, as always, a delight to look at. My favorite scenes from this film are all with Jack on screen. All in all, Terms of Endearment is certainly an above-average chick flick, and a good/entertaining watch for family/ loved ones, but the amount of Oscars it undeservedly won is ridiculous.