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Amazon.co.uk Review
Scott McPherson's off-Broadway hit made a strong transition to the screen in Marvin's Room, a 1996 film by director Jerry Zaks. Diane Keaton stars as a woman who, while taking care of her vegetating father in Florida, discovers that she has leukaemia. Only her long-estranged sister (Meryl Streep) or the sister's children can provide a possible match for a bone-marrow transplant. But the reunion is a rocky one, marked both by Streep's guilt at having abandoned her sister to take care of their father, and by the explosive dynamic between Streep and her rebellious, pyromaniac oldest son (Leonardo DiCaprio). As grim as this all sounds, there is a strong vein of black humour running through it that has the viewer laughing at unlikely moments (particularly Keaton's visits to her distracted doctor, a surprisingly funny Robert De Niro). But rest assured: tears will flow, even as the film makes you reassess all of your own family relationships. -Marshall Fine
Special Features
1.85 Wide Screen
English
Region 2
Dolby Digital 5.1 English
Dolby Digital 5.1
English
Region 2
Dolby Digital 5.1 English
Dolby Digital 5.1
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
20 of 20 people found the following review helpful
Format:VHS Tape
You walk into the cinema on a rainy Monday night to see a movie about which you know nothing. It's been a hard day at work and that monday feeling is getting worse. When you leave the cinema you're uplifted and human, having been moved into believing people aren't that bad after all. The rest of the week doesn't look so bad now, does it? Marvin's Room stars Meryl Streep and Diane Keaton, Robert De Niro and Leonardo Di Caprio. From such strarry names you might expect a movie of grand proportions. In fact, this is as close to Arthouse as Hollywood is ever likely to get. As perfect on small screen in your living room as on the big screen this movie gives us as much insight into the actors as it does the characters. Streep and Keaton play sisters who haven't spoken for twenty years. They come into contact again when illness strikes at the heart of the family forcing everyone to face responsibilities long neglected. Di Caprio gives a rare showing of great sublety and a clue into his future abilities, whereas Niro lets rip a stonking comic streak. This movie could have easily slid into unbearable sentimentality. Rather, we are touched and moved by characters who remain in our thoughts long after the closing credits.
11 of 11 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
Taken from a play by Scott McPherson, "Marvin's Room" at first seems like it might be a dreary tear jerker of a drama. But wait, there is a dream cast involved and somewhat maudlin scenarios turn out to be sheer delights. Imagine a film with Meryl Streep, Diane Keaton, Robert DeNiro, Leonard DiCaprio and Hugh Cronyn and you cannot go wrong. Keaton is taking care of her long failing father Cronyn when she discovers she has leukemia. She contacts her long estranged sister (Streep) and nephew (DiCaprio) as possible donors. When the families unite in Florida, it's a flurry of funny, hard-nosed and real life dialogue. All cast members are at their best and Streep and Keaton juxtaposed as sisters is amazing. There's strong warmth and reality in this film and despite the occasional tear, the ultimate feeling is happiness. This movie is a keeper.
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
Kindly Bessie (Diane Keaton) has devoted her life to caring for her ailing father with no help from her estranged sister, Lee (Meryl Streep), the black sheep of the family. But now, Bessie is gravely ill and needs Lee's help.
I usually don't care for Diane Keaton's acting, but I did like her in this role. She plays an utterly selfless woman who could easily have been cloying, but was instead, quite sympathetic and noble. Streep does her usual expert job, playing a woman who won't win any Mother of the Year awards. And DiCaprio, looking very young a year before Titanic, steals all his scenes as a dangerous teen who hates his mother so much he burns down the house.
This is a poignant look at illness and dying through the eyes of three very different characters. I was sorry it ended so abruptly without resolving the story, but that makes it feel even more real. This is a movie I'll want to watch again when I'm feeling blue; it will help me keep things in perspective and remind me what's really important.
I usually don't care for Diane Keaton's acting, but I did like her in this role. She plays an utterly selfless woman who could easily have been cloying, but was instead, quite sympathetic and noble. Streep does her usual expert job, playing a woman who won't win any Mother of the Year awards. And DiCaprio, looking very young a year before Titanic, steals all his scenes as a dangerous teen who hates his mother so much he burns down the house.
This is a poignant look at illness and dying through the eyes of three very different characters. I was sorry it ended so abruptly without resolving the story, but that makes it feel even more real. This is a movie I'll want to watch again when I'm feeling blue; it will help me keep things in perspective and remind me what's really important.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Marvin's Room
Whilst I liked this film, there wasn't a lot to love about it. It was perfectly acceptable to watch to while the time away on a rainy sunday afternoon, but it's not one that I... Read more
Published 4 months ago by Lucy Reynolds
Great film - Bad DVD quality -
The film is great!
The quality however was of bootleg quality - it was almost like watching through a stain glass window.
The quality however was of bootleg quality - it was almost like watching through a stain glass window.
Published 17 months ago by Stahl Hansen Charlotte
Heartwarming
This is a play whose script immediately presents a challenge - it is poorly written. However, despite the best attempts of the film's director (with fainting goofy scenes! Read more
Published on 27 Oct 2006 by Terry J. Hardy
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