Terms of Endearment (1983)

I hated the story, let's get that out of the way first. This film is about character acting at it's best, though, and Shirley MacLaine ("Aurora") and Jack Nicholson ("Garrett") bring us charisma and entertainment in spades which thankfully rescues the really pedestrian plot from abject mediocrity. Since her birth, "Aurora" has fussed over her daughter "Emma" (Debra Winger) and upon the death of her husband, settles down to a rather vicarious existence living life through her daughter, her husband "Flap" (Jeff Daniels) and their children. She is a strong willed woman, with love that can be gentle and kindly, or that can be rude and interfering with much of the frequently sardonic humour emanating from her disinclination to let them live their own lives. Next door we find "Garrett", a somewhat disreputable womaniser. A former astronaut who trades well on his erstwhile status, but who takes a bit of a shine to "Aurora" - and that's another source of lively comedy as the two clash with engaging regularity. The last hour descends rather quickly into melancholy, though, as the young "Emma" has to deal with her own problem husband, and an illness that starts to focus the attention from all concerned onto what really matters with their relationships. MacLaine is always good with these rough-round-the-edges roles and here there is plenty of chemistry on the sparing occasions in which she and Nicholson feature. Sadly, for me anyway, the rest of this hovers way too close to melodrama and though at its best it is really good, for the most part I was rather underwhelmed by the family antics that underpinned so much of the (over-long) story.