August: Osage County
Directed by: John Wells Starring: Meryl Streep, Julia Roberts, Ewan McGregor Rating: Not Yet Rated Release Date: November 8, 2013
Trailer Score: 6/10
Thoughts by TSR: I’ll say up front that I know very little about Tracy Letts’ Broadway play of the same name. I was a big fan of the adaptations of Bug and Killer Joe, but the only thing that’s been drawing me to August: Osage County is the cast. Ideally the trailer would have arrived and given numerous other reasons to be excited. Unfortunately, beyond the cast I still don’t feel like this is something I have to rush out to see. Don’t get me wrong, it looks perfectly fine. I’m just not sure what the hook is.
Meryl Streep, as is usually the case, stands out the most. While I can’t say I love the voice she’s putting on, her delivery of the line about smoking is amusing enough. The rest of the dysfunctional family – Julia Roberts, Ewan McGregor, Margo Martindale, Abigail Breslin, Juliette Lewis, Sam Shepard, Chris Cooper, Julianne Nicholson and Derbel McDillet among them – are all appealing, but the trailer doesn’t allow any of them to make a big impression. The one person other than Streep who does register is Benedict Cumberbatch – sadly deprived of an individual title card. Cumberbatch’s quick moment looks a bit more dramatic than the more darkly comedic stuff between the rest of the family, and I’m interested to see how the film balances that. I have faith in Letts doing the adaptation. It’s director John Wells who doesn’t instill much confidence. I didn't think The Company Men was bad, it just did nothing to make Wells a director who boosts interest. The cast is talented enough to carry it, but hopefully Wells adds some interesting touches to make the film more visually captivating than the trailer indicates.