It’s time to dish the dirt

August: Osage County

Director: John Wells

Writer: Tracy Letts

Starring: Meryl Streep, Julia Roberts, Ewan McGregor, Chris Cooper, Margo Martindale, Abigail Breslin, Juliette Lewis, Julianne Nicholson, Benedict Cumberbatch, Dermot Mulroney, Sam Shepard, Mitsy Upham

Runtime: 121 minutes

Certification: 15

Here is a film of so many mixed emotions that it will make your head spin. With larger-than-life characters having a proper go at each other at a family gathering (where else?). Those of you familiar with the Walkers of ABC’s hit TV show Brothers and Sisters will know of their infamous dining scenes where no lunch/dinner party is a smooth ride. The Weston family, hailing from Osage County, Oklahoma, take things to a whole new level. There’s wine involved of course, but also pills, cursing is almost a requirement, and hurling verbal abuse is the norm.

At the head of the table sits the matriarch, cancer-ridden, pill-popping Violet Weston (Meryl Streep) who is reeling from her husband Beverly’s (Sam Shepard) suicide. The entire family has gathered to support her, although with this lot they create more problems and tension. Violet’s sister Mattie Fae (Margo Martindale) and Mattie’s husband Charlie (Chris Cooper) turn up, as does their son Little Charlie (Benedict Cumberbatch), with events taking a more juicy turn with Violet’s three daughters Barbara (Julia Roberts), Karen (Juliette Lewis) and Ivy (Julianne Nicholson). Barbara’s family is falling apart, but in the face of such tragedy her daughter Jean (Abigail Breslin) and estranged husband (Ewan McGregor) put on a united front, Karen turns up with the man of the year Steve (Dermot Mulroney) whose strongest quality is certainly not subtlety (driving a crazy loud Ferrari to a funeral, taking a phone call during prayer), and Ivy isn’t as single as her mother assumes her to be. As the dramatic showdown occurs, the new live-in carer Johnna (Mitsy Upham) looks on from a relative distance as she serves up the meal.

It’s one hell of a cast, with everyone pitching in strong performances to create one smooth ensemble piece. There is a mixture of loud voices who aren’t afraid to lay out their opinions, and to contrast that some more restrained performances also have place at the dinner table. Streep and Roberts are clearly the loudest of the bunch, with Violet, hopped up on all sorts of pain meds, is an unstoppable train when it involves insulting her guests. Roberts is the only one brave enough to square off directly against her mother, and between the two of them there is plenty of scenery chewed and devoured as they outright steal the show.

There is a reason why these two are hogging all the awards attention; they are both phenomenal. Roberts hasn’t had a role this mature and seasoned in recent years and it’s nice to see her let loose and tackle her supporting role fearlessly. When Barbara isn’t butting heads with her mom, it’s her husband and daughter she has trouble with, which brings out great moments for both McGregor and Breslin.

Streep, as usual, is the dramatic dominant force the film depends on, and her wild, hysteric antics remain faultless throughout, and there really appears to be no role that she cannot convincingly handle.

But the script is clever enough to give everyone at the table a chance to shine. It’s a packed crowd for sure, with so many big names it becomes hard to resist.

Rounding off the Weston family are Karen, a clueless, wandering, happy-go-lucky who is willing to embrace any man who will have her, even if that means she will be wife no. 4 to her , Ivy is finally learning to find happiness, her own place in the world and get on with her life, as the only daughter who stuck around in Oklahoma near the insanity of her childhood home.

There is a particularly effective scene where the three sisters gather around for a late-night catch-up, a short but dense segment that reveals more than expected from the characters. Nicholson is most engaging, finally revealing a part of her that wasn’t previously seen as she was being largely side-lined and ignored thanks to the funeral dinner ending in absolute chaos.

Martindale’s Mattie Fae is as bubbly (“give me some sugar” she says as she embracingly greets all the family members) as she can be downright nasty, most noticeably to her own son, Little Charles, played lovingly and sweetly by Cumberbatch, who is a little slow, clumsy and unemployed, which makes him a screw-up in her eyes.

Cooper, although generally quiet and perhaps the most sane, normal one of the group has his highlight scene that comes when he sticks up for his son who he couldn’t be more proud of.

Beverly’s suicide is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to what the Westons have in store for the rest of the film. No secret can stay buried for too long in this family, and as one dark, twisted fact comes to light after another, it’s only a matter of time before everything falls crumbling apart. And it’s this slow but sure disintegration of various relationships as an audience member that proves to be enormously entertaining to watch.

In the end however, no one comes out a clear winner, as under all that black humour there is a profound sense of tragic underlying sadness. Every single character has messed up issues that need dealing with but in this kind of environment answers aren’t easy to find. The final scenes don’t provide any satisfying closure, although a re-edited version of the ending, courtesy of Harvey Weinstein trying to put a more positive spin on the narrative tries to give some hope. Surprisingly this doesn’t feel too out of place, and after so many unpleasantries, it could be a welcome change of atmosphere, even if that moment passes by in a fleetingly brief shot.

A true acting masterclass of how it’s done on the screen, do not miss this.