Yes, No, Maybe So: "August: Osage County"
Friday, May 10, 2013 at 10:16PM Oscar-teasing trailers are just like Oscar bait movies: they all come out at the same time. Can't there be a little breathing room? After Captain Phillips warned us that Tom Hanks (and Paul Greengrass) are ready to come roaring back... After Gravity teased us with visual effects so terrifying that the prospect of Sandra Bullock acting out existential despair (not something she's known for you must admit) already seems like The Must Event of the Year... After The Butler threw a Handful of Presidents & First Ladies , Oscar Winners, Ten History Lessons, and OpPRRRrraaAAHHHh in one trailer pot and stirred itself into an Oscar Bait Frenzy (or Parody)... came The Weinstein Co's major player: AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY.
The film stars 3 Oscar winners (Meryl Streep, Julia Roberts, Chris Cooper), 3 nominees (Juliette Lewis, Sam Shepard, Abigail Breslin), 1 underappreciated awesome fellow (Ewan McGregor), 1 recent Emmy winner (Martindale), 1 rising star Benedict Cumberbatch, 1 curiously resurgent Dermot Mulroney and 1 Misty Upham from Frozen River... so you know FYC ads will have to be five page spreads. The Hollywood Reporter's already counting the ad dollars because that's a lot of names to push. [more after the jump]
If you've been reading The Film Experience faithfully you know that I'm a huge fan of Tracy Letts (see his plays first chance you get!) and that I found this particular play just riveting and sublime on Broadway. But what of the trailer? Let's break it down...
YES
Is anybody S'POSED to smoke?!"
- Meryl Streep's fourth Oscar? I wanna be there for that if/when it happens!
- The source material is just masterful and gripping with killer dialogue and at least a couple of moments which arrive with true seismic force. It's tough to shake when it's directed and acted well.
- Familial dramas that people actually feel excited about are in short supply in our comic-book world so we'd have to support this even if we didn't already love the play.
- George Clooney & Grant Henslov and Jean Doumanian, just a few of the producers, regularly shepherd quality films for adults into the multiplexes
- "Is anybody supposed to smoke" is a great line reading from Meryl -- and her character Violet Weston has plenty of funny/bitchy lines in the play -- and as per usual her chameleonic skills are in ample evidence despite this very brief peek. At least we get a taste of the voice choices: throaty, lower, and sardonic...
NO
Little Abigail aside this is such a 90s Flavored Cast, yes?
- Meryl Streep's fourth Oscar? If it happens so soon after snatching Viola's away and she's anything less than absolutely worthy it might be rough-going on Oscar blogs and forums all season
- Benedict Cumberbatch's big moment looks a little bit like SELF-CONSCIOUSLY BIG OSCAR CLIP out of context. I'm not sure it's that flattering in the generally light tone the trailer has gone for but I'll admit I didn't much care for "Little Charles" in the stage show either.
- Now, I don't want them to give away the best moments or anything but the trailer does seem curiously lacking in any specific hook to watch it beyond its list of heavyweight actors...
- ...though "heavyweight" is a generous term since one could argue that this cast-list veritably screams 'Mid 90s Production!' ...and here we are in 2013.
- There's nothing particularly delicious or interesting or even moving about the images and very very brief snippets we're shown here. It feels like you could have just skimmed the future DVD and taken lines out at random. As a trailer, it has very little in the way of "shape" or style. Will the movie also feel haphazard?
- We get only one real undistinguishing shot of the house and the house COULD be a great character in the movie as it is on the stage. But if I know modern non-auteur directors the whole movie will be shot in closeup and we'll miss the chance to really understand this as a home where multiple vivid characters have shared the same oxygen and painful history.
- But mostly, I thought John Wells didn't show much promise at all as a director in Company Man. I don't mean to be rude but what the hell did he do to deserve this big of a get for his second feature? You'd think the biggest name directors in the world would've wanted it.
MAYBE SO
- Meryl Streep's fourth Oscar? We can't wait to judge whether or not she's worthy... that's half the fun of Oscar-watching
- Listen, I have a bad memory for details of movies and plays if I haven't seen them recently and curiously very few specific moments from the play sprang back into my mind while watching this trailer. I wonder how faithful it is? I worry that's it's too faithful (different mediums need different things, as Tim was just reminding us with Gatsby)
- I feel bad for Julianne Nicholson who doesn't get a title card despite being in a lot of clips and Misty Upham who I don't think we see at all! Also bereft of title cards: Benedict & Margo
- I've never been entirely crazy about the casting of this movie -- as great as Margot Martindale sometimes is, she's also very expected... she's at the exact point in her career where she'd be the person you'd cast for this. But I realize this is also just me having trouble letting go of my dream cast. I so badly wanted someone to give Kathleen Turner a comeback shot and she would've been so perfect for that role. I wanted Laura Linney for Julia's role. Etcetera. Which is a long way of saying...
- Regardless of how famous the cast is and how great the play is, the success of this artistically will entirely depend on the execution, the chemistry, and the choices in direction and screenwriting and we can't truly know any of that from a 2 minute trailer. I wish them all the best of luck because I hope this is great great great.
And here's the trailer on the off chance you haven't yet watched it three times (or would like to see it for a fourth):
If I know the TFE crowd well, you're already a yes. As am I even if it's terrible. But I can't say that if I wasn't already attached that this trailer would've sold me on it as a must-see. So are you a Yes, No or Maybe So when it comes to the individual players? Break it down for us in the comments.
Reader Comments (72)
I'm just super excited that Margot Martindale is getting a lot of work. She's someone people should be excited about - and it's always great to see career upswings for actresses older than 40. She was very good in Justified and The Americans.
But I don't like this trailer either. I'm a definite no, but reserve a right to change my mind and rent it if reviews are great and/or it really gets oscar traction.
I gotta be honest, at the moment based solely on this trailer, I'm a No. Believe me when I say that I gladly worship Our Lady of Meryl, but she was the best part of this trailer and I didn't even like her that much. The music is terrible, but that's (hopefully) just terrible trailer music for you. I agree with the commenter who said the movie is too bright. The casting mostly feels like stunt casting and I am convinced Julia Roberts will not be up to the challenge. Sigh. My real problem is that I loved the play SO much. I saw the Estelle Parsons touring cast and consider it one of the best plays of the last 25 years (with God of Carnage, Doubt, and Angels in America, and I only loved the adaptation of one of those). Sigh. I really hope I'm wrong.
I wish Glenn Close could have been cast in Meryl's part..Close has been in broadway plays many times so she would know the best way to handle this kind this role.IMO
My dream Violet is Joan Allen in 10 years time ;) or Judy Davis in 5. But I'm curious to see what Meryl does with it.
I only hope that if it's bad it sinks like a stone and then it gets remade when i'm old so I can see a proper version ;)
I think people are reading far too much into a trailer. Things like this get missed: John Wells, of "E.R." fame, directed "August: Osage County," with help from acclaimed below-the-line contributors composer Carter Burwell ("Fargo"), editor Stephen Mirrione (an Oscar winner for "Traffic") and cinematographer Adriano Goldman ("Jane Eyre")
I know how you feel about not letting go of your dream cast. I have wanted to see Judy Davis in the lead role ever since I saw the play. She would've killed it.
On the other hand I'm thrilled for Margo Martindale. Her performance on Justified has endeared her to me for life. She deserves all the good fortune going her way. Sometimes the obvious choice is the right one.
I think they also tried to keep the trailer "light" to generate interest... Hard to judge a movie by one trailer guys!!??? And it is not even out until November...
I was more impressed with Julia than Meryl if I'm being honest. But the trailer captured none of the bile of the play. This is NOT a heartwarming family drama, and if you're going to deceive your audience into thinking this film is something it's not, then expect some problems on your hands down the line. I don't know why this misrepresentation plagues Tracy Letts's work. That's the reason why "Bug" wasn't the hit that it should have been.Maybe it's a good thing that Letts is so talented that he can't be categorized (and win that Tony next month!), but these are fickle audiences we're talking about, and I'll give them next to no credit at all. There's no real flair to this trailer either, but hopefully the next trailer better gets to the heart of this play. The cast is indeed a starry one. I dig that. Makes you stand up and notice a bit more. But it's shameful that they didn't give Mags Bennett her own title card. Show some damn respect, Harvey. I know Oprah's your girl this year for good reason, but come on! If all involved pull off this masterpiece of a play, then we could be looking at a BP winner, not to mention Meryl's 4th Oscar win.
It doesn't strike me as especially dramatic or comedic, which is a problem, but I'm reminding myself that it's only a trailer. They all seem to be playing it too safely for a family as unhinged as this one is.
Yes: I like and want to see more of: Ewan McGregor, Abigail Breslin, Chris Cooper, Sam Shepard, Margo Martindale, Benedict Cumberbatch
No: I am sated, surfeited, and do not want to see anymore of some actors. I'm not saying that I dislike them or that they are bad actors, just that I have seen enough of them for one lifetime, and do not want to see them again. I'll go to a different movie or do something other than see a movie. These actors include Julia Roberts, Meryl Streep, Dermot Mulroney, Juliette Lewis
Maybe so: I've never seen the play and would really like to.
Why isn't Friedkin directing this?
"What I picked up on and thought as fabulous about her voice and accent in this is that I think Streep sounds exactly like Margo Martindale."
A day later, that's the only thing I remember about the trailer. And yes, it was a fabulous touch.
Will it open in China in October?
Never underestimate Streep.
Thank you all for your notes!
Melissa Leo would've been my number one choice for Violet after seeing the play now that I think of it.
Am I alone thinking that every other actress featured here seems more "natural" and "effortless" than Meryl?, including Roberts (I still don't get all the hate towards her, I mean she's the f*cking definition of a movie star, she's the female reincarnation of Joseph Cotten, exudes charisma from every pore, she's efficiently effortless, blends comedy and drama better than many...she's not Meryl or Bergman but jesus give girlfriend some credit)
When an actress like Meryl has been around for such a long time, it becomes more difficult for her to surprise us with each subsequent performance. Over the years, we would have grown more familiar with every of her gesture, flourish, body language, vocal intonation, etc. so much so that we cannot help but look back and think that her 70s and 80s and early 90s performances were more 'natural' or less 'forced' than her recent ones. I feel the same way not just with Meryl but also the rest of her peers like Susan Sarandon, Glenn Close, Jessica Lange, etc. Am I alone in feeling this way?
Very true Jans
Well, I'm on the YES side of course.
Did the trailer blow me away? No, but it was fine actually. (not enough Meryl-craziness, but it will come I'm sure and super excited)
It's the first trailer of many many MANY more to come. I think this was more a coverage of the cast, the dark secrets will come later.
I don't know, people complain even when there are Weinstein's "OSCAR! IN YOUR FACE!" trailer like The King's Speech or The Iron Lady.
I know some users have seen the movie in a screen already and they pretend not to be great Meryl fans but say this is one of her best performances. So I'm really interested if this is true or not.
I'm a maybe. I didn't like Meryl in this even though I usually like her, especially in age appropriate work, but I felt she was doing a Margo Martindale impersonation rather than something she owned. I also felt most of the players were being too safe. These people can be vicious to each other which shows in the text, even in the trailer, but didn't in the execution.
Trailer is a dud for building interest for anyone who doesn't know the play.
And I'm always suspicious of trailers. They tend to show the best parts which if that is the case here, its in big trouble.
I'm Yes of course. But I honestly wasn't impressed with the trailer and Mrs Streep. I love her but as Violet, she just seems overacting. She didn't look real to me. At the other hand, I was surprised by Julia, this could be a good part for her. Oh, and I'm sure Lewis will be great. The other actors look good to me.