Tracy LettsAnmeldelser

Para los Weston ha llegado el momento de enfrentarse al pasado y a las verdades que, silenciadas o ignoradas durante demasiado tiempo, envenenan el presente. Es un caluroso agosto en Oklahoma cuando Beverly, poeta alcohólico y sostén de la familia, desaparece dejando sola en la casa grande a su esposa Violet, enferma de cáncer. Es hora de que las tres hijas se reúnan con su madre y el resto de los familiares. Pero los Weston no son un nido familiar en el que refugiarse, son una bomba de relojería destinada a explotar.

I normally don't care too much for family dramas, but this one was deliciously entertaining.

I would have liked this play better if I'd read if before "August: Osage County." The idea of religious faith and how it is passed down from parent to child, as well as the fallout when one's faith fails are themes that I enjoy exploring in fiction, and this particular work addresses these in the life of a middle-aged man from Nebraska.

"Do you ever look around? At the people around you, their habits and their things they do. The way they live, that we live. Do you ever think about the food we eat, and think about where the food comes from, where it goes? All the people" (20).

An interesting play about family dysfunction. The movie fleshes out some of the scenes a bit more fluidly, but it's worth the read.

“All women need makeup. Don’t let anybody tell you different. The only woman who was pretty enough to go without makeup was Elizabeth Taylor and she wore a ton.” I'll probably recite this quote for the rest of my life, and it will make me smile every time. You tell 'em, Violet!

This is a difficult play to rate. It is courageous in stepping out of easy playwriting territory. It is challenging in the story, which challenges you to keep up as it careens from one place to another, finally ending up in a different place than you expected. It is unpleasant, in the way that Letts plays are often unpleasant, peopled with characters that are all too real, and drawn not from Pleasant Valley, but from the gritty dregs of society. In this story of a family hiring a hit man to kill the matriarch for her insurance, there are betrayals upon betrayals, until you have no idea who to trust...if anyone. Lost half a star for the all too obvious, cop out, and somewhat sexist ending.

I was uncertain about this play when I first saw it. A second viewing (the film) left me somewhat more positive. It is in the reading that I have finally come to realize the weight of this play (and I am not referring to the 3.5 hour running time; I was aware of that from the first viewing). The story of a dysfunctional family in Pawhuska, Oklahoma, sounds genuine. It is an honest story, full of ordinary everyday unhappiness and conflict. The characters are like those in a Sam Shepherd play: deeply flawed, relentlessly narcissistic, unable to find their way out of problems of their own making, and blaming the world at large for everything that went wrong. For the most part, the characters veer between sympathetic and down-right unlikable, much like people in real life. While this family is different from other dysfunctional families, if you came from one, you will certainly recognize the emotional torture, even if the situations are different. It is complex, with subplot on top of subplot, and in the end, as true a statement about the meaninglessness of life as any absurdist writer ever achieved - and doing it all in a realist setting. Definitely worth the investment of time.

I only discovered this story after learning that a smorgasbord full of some of my favorite actors and actresses were in town to bring Letts story to film. It is dark and painful and very funny. I was born and raised in the area so I was already familiar with the setting, though my perspective is far less bleak. I thought this would be my favorite part of the play, but I was enthralled by the characters and the family dynamics the most. They were fascinating.

The playwright from Oklahoma has moved his attention two states north, with a man who comes from Lincoln, NE. The play is about a man who suffers a crisis of faith and must learn to reconcile his strange new state. On the advice of his pastor, he takes a long trip away from wife and children, finding himself in London. The play is written reasonably well, and the characters are fleshed out and believably unlikeable. The main problem is the perpetuation of stereotypes that undergrid this work. The loss of faith will not be believable to those who have lost their faith, and the behavior of the man during his crisis of faith is designed to put the non-belief community in a bad light. In short, this is a story with a moral, but is so poorly executed that it will not touch the audience it is probably most directed toward. Also, the choice of making the man a Baptist probably speaks to the Oklahoma roots of the writer, and perhaps a slight bit of unfamiliarity with Nebraska, where Baptists are not all that common. Overall, it was disappointing, a bit slight, but not terrible.½

Disfunctional family+fighting+dark humour= great play/book

Loved it! So much family dysfunction in such a short play. Officially my favorite play ever! I can honestly say that I don't want to be like any of these women when I "grow up". My family is the Waltons compared to this family! Night Mom. Goodnight Dad. See you in the morning my dear brothers. Fade out from a Piper Family reunion with no suicides, no discovery of lovers being related & no one being threatened with a stay in rehab or an institution.

Tracey Letts' - August: Osage County is definitely a dark one. A severely dysfunctional family can barely get along in the best of situations. A family who leaves behind their mother Violet, the matriarch of the family, with no question on whether or not they should return. A fantastic one without a doubt.

Et familiedrama av de helt store!

John Wells (f. 1956) er en amerikansk teater-, film- og TV-produsent, skribent og regissør. Han har regissert og produsert en rekke filmer som jeg aldri har hørt om (kanskje med unntak av den uhyggelige filmen "One Hour Photo" fra 2002 med Robin Williams i hovedrollen). (Kilde: Wikipedia.)

"Familien, August: Osage County" er en svart komedie basert på det Pulitzer-prisvinnende teaterstykket med samme navn, skrevet av Tracy Letts.

I filmens åpningsscene introduseres vi for ekteparet Violet og Beverly Weston, spilt av hhv. Meryl Streep og Sam Shepard. Han er en alkoholisert poet - hun har en langt fremskreden munnkreft og er avhengig av vanedannende smertestillende medikamenter (for å si det på en annen måte: hun er narkoman). Det er et sørgelig liv de lever; hun sur og bitter og stort sett alltid på en pille-tripp, han med sorgene druknet i alkohol og med en hang til å gjemme seg bort på sitt arbeidsrom, hvor han ikke gjør stort. Violet er ikke særlig imponert over mannens siste stunt. Han har nemlig ansatt en ung indiansk kvinne som skal ta hånd om praktiske ting som husvask, klesvask og matlaging.

Så forsvinner Beverly plutselig. Han har gjort dette tidligere også, men denne gangen ligger det i luften av det er annerledes. Violet kaller sammen barna, sin søster og deres familier, som kommer ilende til, noen langveisfra og andre fra nabolaget. Dermed er det duket for et familiedrama av de helt store! Men om noen trodde at all futt og fart har gått ut av Violet sammen med den progredierende kreftsykdommen, så tar de feil ... Hun kan absolutt bite fra seg! Det meste kommer ufiltrert ut av munnen hennes, og den verbale brutaliteten hennes takles ulikt av de forskjellige familiemedlemmene. Noen mer ansvarsfulle enn andre, noen mer egosentriske (eller grensesettende) - alle med hemmeligheter som ikke helt tåler dagens lys ...

Som jeg sa innledningsvis, er dette en svart komedie. Latteren setter seg innimellom litt fast i halsen - særlig når man må innse at det man ler av er en temmelig tragisk familiesituasjon, der det meste har gått galt - ikke bare en gang, men i grunnen hele tiden ... To av døtrene har i sin tid ikke bare flyttet hjemmefra - de har flyktet. Og opplever at nissen i grunnen følger med på lasset. Vi aner forsømte barn, som har fått lite kjærlighet av sine dysfunksjonelle foreldre. Særlig Barbara (spilt av Julia Roberts) lider, og sliter med å sette sunne grenser for moren.

Spørsmålet er: Hvor blir det av Beverly, og hva vet egentlig Violet? Og hva er det med søstrene Violet og Mattie, og hvorfor er de så opprørte over det gryende forholdet mellom "Lille" Charles (spilt av Benedict Cumberbatch) og Ivy? Hemmelighetene avsløres lag for lag etter hvert som handlingen skrider frem ...

I denne stjernespekkede filmen er det virkelig ingenting å si på skuespillerprestasjonene! De er i øvre klasse. Selve historien som filmen bygger på er også interessant og dramaturgisk godt bygget opp. Og kanskje det beste av alt: her må sminken vike for realismen, noe som er høyst uvanlig i en amerikansk film. Dermed får den på et vis et "europeisk preg", dersom man ser bort fra noe melodrama spesielt i Matties og Steves rolletolkninger; hun Violets søster, han en flottenfeier av en kjæreste av Karen, en av Violets døtre som i sin tid flyktet til Florida for å komme lengst mulig vekk fra sine dysfunksjonelle foreldre.

For en filmelsker er denne filmen et "must"! Den må ses og oppleves!

Filmen hadde release på DVD i fjor høst. Det bør vel også nevnes at George Clooney har vært produsent.

Innspilt: 2013
Originaltittel: August: Osage County
Nasjonalitet: USA
Genre: Drama/komedie
Skuespillere: Meryl Streep (Violet Weston), Julia Roberts (Barbara Weston-Fordham), Ewan McGregor (Bill Fordham), Chris Cooper (Charles Aiken), Abigail Breslin (Jean Fordham), Benedict Cumberbatch (Lille Charles Aiken), JUliette Lewis (Karen Weston), Margo Martindale (Mattie Fae Aiken), Dermot Mulroney (Steve Huberbrecht), Julianne Nicholson (Ivy Weston), Sam Shepard (Beverly Weston) og Misty Upham (Joanna Monevata)
Spilletid: 120 min.½

Have not read a play in a long time and truly enjoyed this one - especially as I have not seen the movie. Tracy Letts unfolds characters that are truly reminiscent of Eugene O'Neil: the long suffering mother who is afflicted with cancer; the intelligent book oriented dad; the daughter who is struggling to be recognized and accepted as an adult and the wonderful Johnna the hired care giver. A good read.½

Los Weston viven en una gran mansión en las afueras de Pawhuska, en Oklahoma. La desaparición del padre en extrañas circunstancias hace que la familia se reúna y que todas sus miserias salgan a la luz. Adaptación al cine de la obra de teatro del mismo título, ganadora del Premio Pulitzer en 2008. (FILMAFFINITY)

This was my first Tracy Letts play and it was a good one. Simply put, this is a dysfunctional family drama. Capital D for dysfunctional; it puts the FUN in dysfunctional.

Okay, now I'm done with the puns.

Tracy Letts is very good with his dialogue. It's quick, smart, and witty. There was hilarity in the inherent tragedy of life. I like the isolation of the play. The Weston house seemed all alone, on another plane of existence. No one was happy. Everybody had weird as all hell problems. The hardest part was letting go. But what happens to the others that are left behind? How do they go on?

I. Feel. Better. Now.
After 138 pages of drama, death, despair, drugs, drinking, depravity = Depressing!
Think I'll read a kid's fairy tale next - nothing like these adult family issues to make you happy your aren't from the "typical family" that "great plays" are written about.
OK, that's just me after a quick read through this Pulitzer Prize play, so that I can watch the movie sometime. With Meryl Streep, Julia Roberts & a batch of "goodlookingboys", I might want to see the movie and always enjoy reading the book/play first.
It's an interesting read, but thinking I more enjoy books written by his mother, Billie Letts.
Enjoyed this quote from his mother: "I try to be upbeat and funny. Everybody in Tracy's stories gets naked or dead."

7.4 on imdb

There aren't technically SPOILERS following, but I will spoil the theme and tone, so be warned, and read no further. Here's what this play is NOT: One of those dramas where quirky people go through a tragedy together, but everybody heals and has a big, warm hug and laugh at the end. Yeah, this play has a few quirky people, and they definitely go through a family tragedy. There are also some funny lines and moments of levity. But sh*t gets revealed about this family, past and present, and then more stuff, and then more, and things to from tragic to unrelenting, to worse. This is about the disintegration of a family, character by character. And they do it to each other. I hope someday to see this staged (and I hope the filmmakers don't f- it up).

How could you not love Tracy Letts?

Beverly Weston, a former academic, disappears from the family home one day. His wife, Violet, is not concerned for a couple of days, because this has happened before. But when it seems as though he won't come back after all, Violet's three daughters and their families all come back to the homestead to sort through their family history. The play crackles with dark undertones and deep-seated conflicts as secrets come to light. It's difficult to discuss them in detail, since part of the thrill is reading them for yourself. This was a play where I'd read the same page multiple times, just to make sure I'd got everything, and where I didn't want to read too far ahead just in case something important happened. On more than one occasion I exclaimed in shock at revelations that were made. If you like American drama or intra-family feuding, then you might want to take a look at this play.

Four stars for the play as a book, five (at least) for the play, which I saw in June...hands-down one of the best pieces of theater I have ever seen in my life.

"This madhouse is my home."
"Think about that statement for a second, why don't you?"

Tragic and hilarious. The perfect mix of dark humor and real drama -- or at least energized conflict (if that makes sense). It's amazing how the many characters stand apart on the page. Great dialog, some beautiful lines, and satisfying homages to other plays (Long Day's Journey... being the most obvious).

Winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Drama 2007. A vanished father. A pill-popping mother. Three sisters harbouring shady little secrets. When the extended Weston family is reunited after dad disappears, the Oklahoma household explodes in a maelstrom of repressed truths and unsettling secrets.