Really Surprised!

It's fun, it's light, [but] it has a hard time when its tries to get heavy.

Instead, you get a movie that's enjoyable enough, but leaves you feeling like it could have been much, much more.

There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.

Marvin's Room (1996): Dir: Jerry Zaks / Cast: Meryl Streep, Diane Keaton, Leonardo DiCaprio, Robert De Niro, Hume Cronyn: Convicting drama about priorities that end in Marvin's room where love, unity and memories survive. Two sisters come together after seventeen years due too a health problem. Marvin is their father and he is under care by one of them. She is threatened with leukemia and is asked that her sister and two sons be tested for a cure. Her sister is about to earn a scholarship but her son interrupts things by burning the house down. He is institutionalized and released only to help the aunt he has never met. It is clear that he has differences with his mother but his aunt manages to form a connection. Outcome is predictable and flawed with its outlook on death. Directed by Jerry Zaks with an issues many households are affected by. Strong performances by Meryl Streep and Diane Keaton as the sisters. Streep is under pressure due too interrupted plans, and Keaton wishes for life and reconnection. DiCaprio steals scenes as Streep's son whose turnover is no surprise. Robert De Niro adds humour as the doctor who gives sound advice with the wink of an eye. Hume Cronyn plays Marvin who says nothing but much goes on within the confines of his bedroom. Strong theme of supporting others that stops dead at death instead of moving on. Score: 8 / 10

If you are looking for a feel-good film or something nice, do NOT watch "Marvin's Room". It's incredibly depressing and awful--sort of like watching the life of Job as every possible awful thing happens to poor, sweet Bessie in the picture. It's so bad that at times I felt like cringing as I watched the film.Here's the low-down in this god-awful film. Bessie (Diane Keaton) is the sole caretaker for her father, Marvin (Hume Cronyn), who has been bedridden, brain damaged and unable to talk after a stroke which occurred many, many years ago. Bessie is also the caretaker for her mentally ill and wacky Aunt Ruth (Gwen Verdon). Bessie is a selfless and nice person but she has no life apart from these two. Now, she's just learned that she has Leukemia and may die unless she gets a bone marrow transplant.Bessie's sister, Lee (Meryl Streep) is a selfish train wreck. She's clueless, self-absorbed and a horrible person. She never offered Bessie any help in caring for these sick people and they haven't spoken in nearly two decades--and expecting any change in this is very unrealistic. Not surprisingly, her oldest son, Hank (Leonardo DiCaprio) is seriously disturbed...however, he's SO disturbed that when the film begins, he deliberately burns their house to the ground. As a result, he's committed to a mental institution. There is a much younger son- -an oblivious lost soul.It turns out that there's trouble finding a bone marrow match for Bessie and she has to rely on her sister and her family. Lee takes Hank out of the mental hospital to which he's been committed in order to take him cross country to see if he is a match. She DOESN'T tell Hank this and based on Hank's seriously disturbed and crazy behaviors, it sure ain't likely that he'll agree when he finds out the truth. Now, this incredibly sick group of weirdos are all brought into the same home and the viewer is wondering what the heck sort of awfulness will happen next.The acting is fine in this film. In addition to the folks I mentioned, Robert De Niro is also in the film...but with all the craziness he does get a bit lost. That's because the script is just too much--too much craziness and the ending is WAY too much because it makes little sense. It is also so painful to watch and if you come from a rather dysfunctional background, it might really scare you away or remind you of your own issues (for good or bad..but probably bad). And, many of us watch movies to escape--not to feel unpleasant. I myself used to be a family and individual therapist--and the film just reminded me of the worst of the clients I worked with...and that wasn't altogether welcome. Plus how satisfying can it be to sit and watch this long train wreck?! And realistic can an ending be where, miraculously, the problems seemingly just vanish?!Hard to watch, hard to love. I can see why this wasn't a big money- maker when it debuted.

There is a movie channel at the cable in here, Turkey. They usually air boring movies. Today I was blue and had nothing to do. Opened this channel and realized this movie is starting in 5 minutes. I thought "ehh another silly old TV movie" but when saw Merly Streep and Di Caprio's name, thought that, how come I heart nothing about this movie. Started very good and I started to feel better. This is a warm movie and you can watch with your family. It's really hard to find this kind of sincere American movies nowadays. I loved and thought it ended very early, wish they made it a little longer but cool anyways. Director and everything is very good. Recommended.

I happen to rank this movie as one of Leo's finest. It is definitely not as main-stream as his others, but the content and the acting was brilliant. I am a sucker for movies about dysfunctional families and this one takes the cake. It was so human...there was nothing "Hollywood" about this at all. Each character has their own emotional turmoil and when Lee comes down with Hank and Charlie, the characters are forced to come to terms with it. Leo delivered a stand-out performance in a cast of film legends. Meryl Streep is also wonderful as Lee, the self-centered mom who left her family behind in search of her own dreams.