The
Weston family takes dysfunction to a whole new level in John Wells'
August: Osage County,
based on Tracy Letts' Pulitzer and Tony winning stage production, and
adapted for the screen by the playwright himself.
I use
the term “adapted” very loosely, because August: Osage
County demonstrates very little
adaptation in its transition between mediums. The only significant
alteration is a divisive new ending tacked on by notoriously
editorial executive Harvey Weinstein, which doesn't exactly cast a
vote of confidence in Letts' originally dour conclusion. But by most
accounts from the Broadway crowd who were fortunate enough to see the
play in its intended form, the two-act structure and abundance of
spiny dialogue therein has been preserved for the film, virtually to
the letter.
One could make a case that such an unwavering transcription is justifiable when the source material is strong enough. Indeed, the caustic back-and-forth exhibited in August: Osage County is evidence of a magnificent feat of character writing, which is what made its initial theatrical incarnation such a success. But what Letts and Wells fail to avail themselves of here is the ability of cinema to communicate without words; the power that comes from showing, and not telling. But every single nuance is spoken in this piece... no, worse yet: Every single nuance is ACTED in bold red letters.
I can
only imagine how sensational it would be to see the play's
centrepiece dinner sequence performed on stage, where the expedient
exposition of multiple backstories and character arcs in a compressed
amount of time is an artful necessity. On screen, it eventually
starts to drag, with even grabbiest performances wearing thin as they
run out of scenery to devour. The script says they were eating
chicken at that dinner, but there was lots of ham on the side.
Nearly
every player reaches for the rafters as if gasping for what little
residual oxygen is left on set. This is never truer than whenever
Meryl Streep – playing the doped-up, venom-tongued Weston matriarch
suffering from wickedly ironic cancer of the mouth – takes centre
stage (and a stage is where this performance belongs). She convulses
and slurs and makes sure every affected line reading is heard in row
ZZZ, forcing her fellow cast mates to play catch-up. Not that she
isn't entertaining, but it overwhelms the intimacy of the camera.
Thankfully,
there are exceptions to be relished. Chris Cooper develops an
earnest, humble everyman persona that shines like an oasis in the
desert. In a movie full of loud performances being drowned out by
other loud performances, his steady reservedness allows his one
emotive moment of righteous frustration to truly register. But it
ultimately can't compensate for the rest of the cast's overacting.
** out
of ****
