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| One True Thing | |
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Ibsen's Self-Deception would
have been an equally suitable title for this film. The only "true thing"
in college professor George's (William Hurt) life is his wife Kate (Meryl
Streep in an assured and sensitive performance), who runs the household
as a loving mother hen and decorates Christmas trees with other housewives.
George is a philanderer and despite the gentle facade, he is a tyrant
to his family. In any other film, he would be the arch-villain, but
Hurt manages a nuanced depiction of a tortured soul.
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| George's routine is severely upset when Kate is diagnosed with terminal cancer. So he summons his daughter (Renee Zellweger) home to nurse her mother, costing Ellen her journalism career. Concentrating on his strong ensemble cast, director Carl Franklin tells this family drama from Ellen's point of view. Like Ibsen's Nora, she must learn to break out of the doll's house. She sees her mother in a different light and is faced with redefining her relationship to her parents. "Her (Streep's) commitment to the character... was so strong," says Franklin. "There's a magic with actors like Meryl and William Hurt in that they just mysteriously get to the heart of their characters." |