The Best Picture of 1980 is…..”Ordinary People.” Television comedy legend Mary Tyler Moore took on a heavy drama role in the movies and succeeded, receiving great critical acclaim and adulation with the movie-going public. “Ordinary People” was a smash at the box office, much to the credit of Robert Redford in his directorial debut. He expertly guided Moore and the rest of the cast through this story of a family in crisis due to the death of one of their two sons.
Moore took a career risk in taking on this role of a woman with narcissistic personality disorder, after portraying likeable characters on television for the better part of two decades. She received one of six Oscar nominations for Best Actress, the four winners being Best Picture (producer Ronald L. Schwary), Best Director (Redford), Best Screenplay (Alvin Sargent), and Best Supporting Actor (Timothy Hutton). Sargent’s excellent screenplay was adapted from the 1976 novel by Judith Guest. Judd Hirsch was the sixth nomination, also for Best Supporting Actor.
Other cast members include Donald Sutherland, Elizabeth McGovern, M. Emmet Walsh, James Sikking, Adam Baldwin, Dinah Manoff, Richard Whiting, Meg Mundy, Elizabeth Hubbard. Marvin Hamlisch composed the musical score. The very watchable “Ordinary People” was a hit at the box office for Redford’s Wildwood Enterprises and Paramount Pictures.
Ordinary People (1980)
cinema
My Review
The Best Picture of 1980 is…..”Ordinary People.” Television comedy legend Mary Tyler Moore took on a heavy drama role in the movies and succeeded, receiving great critical acclaim and adulation with the movie-going public. “Ordinary People” was a smash at the box office, much to the credit of Robert Redford in his directorial debut. He expertly guided Moore and the rest of the cast through this story of a family in crisis due to the death of one of their two sons.
Moore took a career risk in taking on this role of a woman with narcissistic personality disorder, after portraying likeable characters on television for the better part of two decades. She received one of six Oscar nominations for Best Actress, the four winners being Best Picture (producer Ronald L. Schwary), Best Director (Redford), Best Screenplay (Alvin Sargent), and Best Supporting Actor (Timothy Hutton). Sargent’s excellent screenplay was adapted from the 1976 novel by Judith Guest. Judd Hirsch was the sixth nomination, also for Best Supporting Actor.
Other cast members include Donald Sutherland, Elizabeth McGovern, M. Emmet Walsh, James Sikking, Adam Baldwin, Dinah Manoff, Richard Whiting, Meg Mundy, Elizabeth Hubbard. Marvin Hamlisch composed the musical score. The very watchable “Ordinary People” was a hit at the box office for Redford’s Wildwood Enterprises and Paramount Pictures.