Robert Redford hit one out of the park in his helming bow, taking a Best Director nod for this 1980 four Oscar-winning family drama, based on a best-selling novel by Judith Guest. Donald Sutherland, Mary Tyler Moore and Timothy Hutton head up this wrenching tale of a well-to-do family torn asunder by the death of the oldest son, with Hutton in a breakout film debut as the family's now suicidal youngest. A big audience and critical fave upon its initial release, I was pleased to find that Ordinary People has lost little of its impact two decades later, due, to a large extent, to screenwriter Alvin Sargent's Oscar-winning adaptation, which is a marvel of subtext. (Indeed, the film's only problems come near its end, when Redford and Sargent force the whole effort to a boil too quickly.) A stellar ensemble effort, expertly crafted, this nicely mastered (though featureless) disc is highly recommended. (S. C. Sickles)
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