August: Osage County (2013) * *

Directed by:  John Wells

Starring:  Meryl Streep, Julia Roberts, Chris Cooper, Margo Martindale, Julianne Nicholson, Juliette Lewis, Dermot Mulroney, Benedict Cumberbatch, Sam Shepard, Ewan McGregor, Abigail Breslin

The Plot:   A very dysfunctional Oklahoma family reunites in the wake of the patriarch's suicide and funeral.

Here is a movie crying out for a sequel.    There are plenty of subplots, arguments, threats, revelations, and dramatics that are introduced but not explored or resolved.      In real life, there are not always clear resolutions to issues, but we watch movies to transcend or escape real life.    Resolutions are not unreasonably expected unless a sequel is forthcoming, but I don't expect the gang back together for another go-round.

So what do we have?    Based on the stage play by Tracy Letts and directed by John Wells (who directed the superb The Company Men in 2010), August: Osage County takes place over a scorching hot weekend in rural Oklahoma with the Weston family.     The patriarch Beverly (Shepard), a sad alcoholic who gave up hope of being anything more than a scholar years ago, goes missing and matriarch Violet (Streep) puts the word out to her family near or far.     Soon, all are descending on the Weston home, which has the curtains drawn and the air conditioner unused.     I think part of the reason everyone is so miserable is that the air is not turned on even when it's 108 degrees outside.

Soon, the patriarch Beverly (what a curse for a man to be named Beverly) is found at the bottom of a lake from a suspected suicide, stirring up conflicting emotions and emotional conflicts.    Violet is not without her own problems.    She is suffering from mouth cancer and is hooked on pills, all the while is barely seen without a cigarette in her hand.      I can't imagine that will help with the mouth cancer.
Is it so hard to act without having a prop like a cigarette or a drink in your hand?     The Violet character is a scenery-chewing loudmouth anyway, but why distract from it?    Streep is an 18-time Oscar nominee (including this film) and a three-time winner.     She enjoys playing the insulting, condescending, doped out Violet, although I don't rank this with her best performances.    

The Roberts character is Barb, the "favored" sister with plenty of issues of her own long before her father died.    She's in a crumbling marriage to an eggheaded professor (McGregor) and has a mouth that would embarrass a longshoreman.    I have no objections to movie characters using four-letter or twelve-letter words, but they should be used sparingly.     Roberts isn't exactly a million miles removed from her Oscar-winning turn in Erin Brockovich.     She is sometimes so abrasive and loud that it is hard to have sympathy for her.     We can't really blame her ex for wanting to stay as far away from her as possible.

Other characters are introduced, given a few moments in the sun, and stand on the sidelines while the women have it out.    The men in August:Osage County are MIA when the women are sitting around drinking and having dustups.     My guess is they are running for cover.     My biggest issue with the people in August: Osage County is that they aren't really people we can identify with.     They are play/movie characters with a lot of baggage and drama, but we never quite feel their pain.     There is a lot of shouting, confessions, and a bizarre revelation which makes a creepy relationship between first cousins Ivy (Nicholson) and Charle (Cumberbatch) even creepier.     But despite the all-star cast, August: Osage County in the end just didn't move me.      I'm reminded of the song with the chorus, "Is that all there is?"