When Beverly (Sam Shepard) has passed away, his widow Violet (Meryl Streep), her sister Mattie Fae (Margo Martindale), her three daughters (Julia Roberts, Julianne Nicholson and Juliette Lewis) and their families come together. But without instant all already known and a lot of new conflicts (re)appear and explode in the sweltry hotness of the old childhood home.
German version
Right from the beginning it’s quite easy to guess, how “August: Osage County” will end. But the way the characters are portrayed by the cast and the entertaining dialogues are jollying you along the entire movie. As a fan of Meryl Streep I have to say, I was shocked by her first scene – in an absolute positive meaning. She is so authentic and keeps this momentum for the whole film, while she behaves like a spider sitting in the middle of her net and is arguing, manipulating and affronting every member of her big family.
But even more fascinating is the character of Barbara, Violets oldest daughter. She’s the only daughter, who is married, but she already had to face the fact that her husband Bill was cheating on her. Obviously suicide was the only way her father Beverly was able to reach his daughter and get her up before she’d became like her mother. Julia Roberts is performing superb in this role. You could compare it with her multiple awards winning “Erin Brockovich”. Her nomination for the academy awards (actress in a supporting role) is a clear result of the end of the lunch scene, in which the conflicts between the family members come to an abrupt ending, when everything is bursting out of Barbara.
