Each unhappy family might be unhappy in its own way, but the dysfunctional Weston clan, portrayed by a star-studded cast, feels awfully familiar. The blistering heat reverberates in the flat, Oklahoma landscape, bearing down on the Weston daughters as they return to the family farmhouse to grapple with their venomous, pill-popping mother, a role Meryl Streep embodies with such intensity that it’s hard to watch, but impossible to look away. Originally an award-winning play by Tracy Letts, August: Osage County’s flaws lie only in that it perhaps is better suited to the stage than the screen. The scenes, crackling with intense emotion, can feel slightly claustrophobic, trapping moviegoers in that stifling hot farmhouse.
Should You See It? The performances from Meryl Streep and Julia Roberts alone are worth the ticket price. —S.Z.
Viewed at Landmark Tivoli Theatre