The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 68, No. 12, Ed. 1 Thursday, October 23, 1980 Page: 8 of 32
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Film
Redford directs 'family run amok'in Ordinary People
Ordinary People is an intense
and moving film experience.
Starring Donald Sutherland and
Mary Tyler Moore as a pair of
bereaved parents, Timothy Hutton
as their troubled and suicidal son,
and Judd Hirsh as a "hip"
psychiatrist, the movie teems with
acting talent. It is the first film
directed by actor Robert Redford.
Mary Tyler Moore.
The screenplay, written by
Academy Award-winning Alvin
(Julia) Sargent, is an adaptation of
Judith Guest's best-selling novel of
a family run amok in a superfluous
suburban society. Although the
emphasis in the story is placed on
Conrad, the son, much of the
unknotting of the family unit is
revealed through frequent
flashbacks. It is by flashback that
some of the more disturbing scenes
are conserved for the plot's
dramatic climax. This effective
device created quite an audible stir
about the $1.75 matinee crowd
Saturday. I was definitely on the
edge of my seat.
The plot concerns Conrad
Jarrett, an adolescent, troubled by
his brother's accidental death
when the two were caught in a
storm while sailing. The ill effects
of adjustment are amplified for
Conrad because of an absence of
communication and honesty
within his family — his affluent
parents are so "on the go" that they
are always gone. In a desperate
reach for help, Conrad attempts
suicide (,a la Schick double-edge)
and his parents suddenly are
forced to take note of their second,
more awkward, child, who was
always outdone by his very
popular brother. Conrad is sent to
an institution for electro-shock
therapy. Everything would be
taken care of, and much cheaper
than orthodontics, reason his busy
parents. Yet when Conrad returns
home, he is plagued with
nightmares and an adolescent
awkwardness that is magnified by
trauma. Seeking help from a
psychiatrist, and struggling along
with girls, Conrad becomes his
parents' menace. He emerges from
his shell full of anger and guilt,
manifested in hostility toward his
aloof and distant mother. It is this
strain that causes the tragic
crumbling of a seemingly
"Tupperware perfect" family of the
70's, as Mom splits home in
Evanston and heads for Houston.
It is at times mystifying, yet
certainly believable to witness the
ease in which this fragile family is
annihilated. A disturbing form of
irony emerges as the parents, both
entertaining and witty on a
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superficial level, expose their
vulnerabilities to the viewer — and
Conrad. This serves to underscore
their inadequacy as they flounder
in their efforts to understand. Yet
this process is not sensationalized,
it happens everyday. What could
be more ordinary?
Timothy Hutton (son of TV's
Ellery Queen, the late Jim Hutton)
makes his screen debut with a
stunning performance as the
troubled Conrad. This physically
demanding role contains several
excellent scenes with psychiatrist.
Dr. Berger, played by Judd Hirsch.
Hirsch provides just the right
amount of comic relief without
being intrusive. Mary Tyler
An Ordinary Family. Mary Tyler Moore, Donald Sutherland and Timothy
Hutton.
Moore exposes a whole new facet
of her acting capability in her top-
notch performance as the chilling.
\
aseptic Beth Jarrett. Donald
Sutherland, as Calvin Jarrett,
gives a less credible, but adequate
showing in a difficult, rather
inconsistent role.
"Some films you watch, others
you feel", states the movie ad. I
worried that Ordinary People
would be a hard-core sentimental
flick with little substance — I was
mistaken. Though charged with
pathos (BYOKleenex), it is an
interesting and valid perspective of
20th century values and their
effects on a family in crisis.
—E.J.J. Burke
Judd Hirsch and Tim Hutton as psychiatrist and patient.
Events
Prison Rodeo: The elan of violence
Texas Prison Rodeo
The Wildest Rodeo Behind Bars
Huntsville, Texas
Through October 26
What makes the Texas Rodeo
the Wildest Rodeo Behind Bars is
the unpredictable combination of
"award winning" bulls and
broncos and fifty amateur convict
riders. Texas has the dubious
distinction of originating the
spectacle, and each year it attracts
more and more attention. This
year over 90,000 people will
make the pilgrimage to Huntsville
to watch the competition.
And that competition can get
pretty raw—even violent—since
most of the "cowboys" have never
ridden in a rodeo before being sent
to Huntsville. What's more, the
inmates get virtually no practice
before the actual performance. In
fact, the prisoners' only rodeo
preparation consists of the tryout
eliminations, which are held on a
mechanical bull, and one
SS
&
Bull riding at the Texas Prison Rodeo.
afternoon's practice before the
show—it is during the rodeo itself
that the majority of cowboys learn
to ride. When those bulls and
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broncos charge out of the chutes in
a frenzy of uncontrollable energy,
the rider depends on guts alone tp
not be thrown before the eight
seconds elapse that constitute a
legitimate "ride." And they'll try
almost anything to stay on—
including the infamous "suicide
knot."
As a result, the Texas Prison
Rodeo cultivates an elan of
violence in its shows, largely
because it is the trained animals
see Prison, page 9
COCOA
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DISSERTATIONS LEGAL
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2600 Southwest Fwy., Suite 307
Houston, Texas 77098 _
Call 713/528-3197 X
Days or Everlfngs v
SsCOOOOOOOOGOpOOOOOOCVl
The Rice Thresher, October 23,1980, Page 8
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Dees, Richard. The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 68, No. 12, Ed. 1 Thursday, October 23, 1980, newspaper, October 23, 1980; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth245452/m1/8/: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Rice University Woodson Research Center.