I saw August: Osage County in the cinema, upon its UK release date this weekend. Cinema releases are free of such digital graphics, but trust me – this is a film that has got “For Your Consideration” written all over it, and in no good way. His widow, Violet (Meryl Streep), is suffering from mouth cancer, and is popping an inordinate amount of pills for her condition. In a belligerent and candid mood, she kicks off a whole bunch of arguments with her three daughters; Barbara (Julia Roberts), Karen (Juliette Lewis), and Ivy (Juliette Nicholson) – and the pile-up of their extended family in one house only exacerbates the conflict. Whatever the quality of Tracy Letts’ script before this ensemble was let loose on it, this feels like quite a tacky, hollow shot at hoovering up Oscar recognition in the acting categories, and it has been rewarded with an obligatory nod for Streep and a supporting nomination for Roberts. The tissue that holds this film together are the scenes in which they histrionically hurl recriminations at one another, so that actually seems to have paid off. Not only is her performance overdone, it’s all over the place, which suggests to me that it’s not actually her fault that it came out so muddled. Sometimes it’s right for the scene, as in a particularly good monologue about how her own mother’s cruelty made for an unhappy Christmas one year in her teens, but it’s the inconsistency that sinks it. One minute, she’s spitting out toxic insults to her loved ones, and the next, she’s hollering with barely-contained anguish. It’s a totally reasonable acting choice to assume that a character as mean and bitter as Violet must be sad inside, but that doesn’t mesh with what the script is saying. As written, Violet doesn’t seem given to self-pity at all. It’s never more clear than in the 20 minute post-funeral dinner scene that is clearly meant to be the centrepiece of this family’s dramatic turmoil. It’s so unrefined and flatly executed as to actually be boring, even as Streep is yo-yoing between line deliveries and the whole scene escalates towards a cathartic explosion of violence. The script alone is great, but it feels like having a good road map and nobody at the steering wheel. In spite of this, there are a couple of solidly good turns here and there. Roberts, Lewis and Nicholson are all strong as sisters who each find their illusions being shattered by being back in close quarters with one another, and with Violet. Elsewhere, the father-son relationship between Violet’s brother-in-law Charlie, (Chris Cooper) and Little Charles (Benedict Cumberbatch) becomes very touching, thanks to the performances behind them. Cumberbatch plays against type surprisingly well, as a clumsy, well-meaning buffoon who manages to over-sleep and miss his uncle’s funeral, while Cooper is always kind to him, in the face of everyone else writing him off as an idiot. In fact, the film’s best scene sees Charlie stand up for his son against the constant emasculation inflicted by the family. Without degenerating into hysterics, Cooper launches an all-encompassing verbal strike against the bitchiness and mean spiritedness we’ve seen so far, right at the point when we’re all getting just about sick of it as well. Wells comes tantalisingly close to recovering some interest, when Letts’ script expertly rattles a shocking skeleton out of the in-laws’ closet right at the end of the second act, just after that angry monologue from Charlie. But as soon as that’s passed, the film starts haemorrhaging characters left and right, taking the next possible exit to get back to mean, noisy overacting between Streep and Roberts. It’s not without flashes of brilliance from the cast, but even the end credits of this film got on my wick. Comprised of tableau drawings of the cast, which scream “FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION!” all by themselves, you’d think we had just finished watching The Return Of The King. But with the bad taste it left in the mouth, it feels far closer to the longest, bleakest episode of Mrs. Brown’s Boys ever made. Follow our Twitter feed for faster news and bad jokes right here. And be our Facebook chum here.
