August: Osage County Review - 2 Stars

Meryl Streep plays an angry cancer ridden alcoholic whose family comes together when Meryl’s husband (played by the great Sam Shepard) commits suicide.  This unhappy scenario heats up as sisters Julia Roberts, Julianne Nicholson and Juliette Lewis deal with various family quarrels, including one very deep dark secret.  I enjoyed seeing Margo Martindale (maybe you remember her as “Grandma” in “The Americans”) in a juicy dramatic role.  “August: Osage County” started life as a play and won a Pulitzer prize for author Tracey Letts.  As a movie it is dialog heavy and depressing.  This great talented cast can’t make the material rise above soap opera so if you go prepare for disappointment.  Does it deliver what it promises?  Talented cast chew the scenery in a depressing story.  Is it entertaining:  See previous sentence.  Is it worth the price of admission?  Meryl Streep will probably got another Oscar nomination for this but I found it hard to watch and or enjoy.