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Ordinary People
Beth, Calvin, and their son Conrad are living in the aftermath of the death of the other son. Conrad is overcome by grief and misplaced guilt to the extent of a suicide attempt. He is in therapy. Beth had always preferred his brother and is having difficulty being supportive to Conrad. Calvin is trapped between the two trying to hold the family together.
1980 · Directed by Robert Redford · 124 min · Drama · Screenplay in the scene database · 18 frames
Tagline
Everything is in its proper place... except the past.
Plot
The Jarretts are an upper-middle-class family in Lake Forest, a wealthy suburb north of Chicago. They are trying to return to normal life after experiencing the accidental drowning of their older teenage son, Buck, and the attempted suicide of their younger and surviving son, Conrad. Conrad has recently returned home after spending four months in a psychiatric hospital. He feels alienated from his family and friends and seeks help from a psychiatrist, Dr. Tyrone Berger, who learns that Conrad was involved in the sailing accident that killed Buck. Conrad is now dealing with post-traumatic stress disorder and is seeking help to cope with his emotions.
Conrad's father, Calvin, attempts to connect with his surviving son and to understand Beth, his wife and Conrad's mother, who denies her grief, hoping to maintain her composure and restore her family to what it once was. She appears to have favored Buck, and has grown cold toward Conrad due to his suicide attempt. Beth is determined to maintain the appearance of perfection and normality, but her efforts only serve to further alienate Conrad. Conrad continues to work with Dr. Berger and begins to learn how to deal with his emotions. He starts dating a fellow student, Jeannine, who helps him regain his optimism and confidence. However, Conrad still struggles to communicate and establish normal relationships with his parents and schoolmates in the shadow of recent events.
Meanwhile, Calvin tries to referee the tension between Beth and Conrad, generally taking Conrad's side for fear of pushing him over the edge again. Tensions escalate before Christmas when Conrad becomes furious with Beth for refusing to take a photo with him, swearing at her in front of his grandparents. Soon after, Beth discovers that Conrad has been lying about his whereabouts after school and has quit the swim team. This leads to a heated confrontation between Conrad and Beth in which Conrad points out that Beth never visited him in the hospital; Conrad argues that if Buck had been hospitalized in his place, she would have gone to see him, to which Beth curtly replies that Buck would never have been in the hospital in the first place.
Plot summary from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA.
Crew
- Screenplay: Alvin Sargent
- Cinematography: John Bailey
- Edited by: Jeff Kanew
- Music: Marvin Hamlisch
- Produced by: Ronald L. Schwary
Cast
- Donald Sutherland as Calvin Jarrett
- Mary Tyler Moore as Beth Jarrett
- Judd Hirsch as Dr. Berger
- Timothy Hutton as Conrad Jarrett
- M. Emmet Walsh as Swim Coach
- Elizabeth McGovern as Jeannine Pratt
- Dinah Manoff as Karen
- Fredric Lehne as Lazenby
- James B. Sikking as Ray Hanley
- Basil Hoffman as Sloan
Production
- Country: United States of America
- Language: English
- Studios: Paramount Pictures, Wildwood Enterprises
- Budget: $6,000,000
- Box office: $54,766,923
- Themes: chicago, illinois, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder (ptsd), based on novel or book, suicide attempt, middle class, dysfunctional family, grief, bereavement, psychiatrist
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