Marvin's Room
- Original title
- Marvin's Room
- Year
- 1996
- Running time
- 98 min.
- Country
- United States
- Director
- Screenwriter
- Scott McPherson. Novel: Scott McPherson
- Cast
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- Meryl Streep
- Diane Keaton
- Leonardo DiCaprio
- Robert De Niro
- Hume Cronyn
- Dan Hedaya
- Gwen Verdon
- Hal Scardino
- Cynthia Nixon
- See all credits
- Music
- Cinematography
- Producer
- Genre
- Drama | Melodrama. Disease/illness. Family Relationships
- Synopsis
- Two sisters try to set their familial differences aside -- one in hopes of saving her own life -- in this drama with comic accents. Bessie (Diane Keaton) has lived in Florida for the past 20 years, where she's been caring for her chronically ill father Marvin (Hume Cronyn) and her Aunt Ruth (Gwen Verdon), who does not seem well aquatinted with reality. While Bessie's life has not been easy, she feels that it's rewarding in its way, and she's come to love her father very much. However, when Bessie is diagnosed with cancer, she's told that the only treatment likely to save her would be a bone marrow transplant from a close relative -- which leads Bessie to contact her sister Lee (Meryl Streep) for the first time since their father fell ill. Bessie and Lee have a number of issues with each other that they've never resolved, many concerning their responses to Marvin's illness (Bessie rushed to his side, while Lee preferred to stay away), and Lee's own life has been difficult. She's gotten herself out of a bad marriage, has only recently started supporting herself as a beautician, and has to raise two kids on her own. Ten-year-old Charlie (Hal Scardino) tries to simply ignore the chaos going on all round him, while Hank (Leonardo DiCaprio), a troubled 17-year-old, was recently institutionalized after burning down the family's home. As the straight-laced Bessie and the earthy Lee reestablish contact after two decades, they discover just how much emotional ground they have to cover before they can meet on common ground. Robert De Niro appears in a supporting role as Dr. Wally, Bessie's physician. Marvin's Room was based on the stage drama by Scott McPherson, which opened in 1990; McPherson himself was critically ill at the time -- he died two years later from complications relating to AIDS. (Mark Deming: All Movie Guide)
- Awards
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1996: Nominated for Oscar: Best Actress (Diane Keaton)1996: Nominated for Golden Globe: Best Actress Drama (Meryl Streep)1996: National Board of Review (NBR) Special Recognition for excellence in filmmaking1997: Moscow Film Festival: Best Film1196: Screen Actors Guild (SAG): Nominated Best Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture. 3 Noms.
- Critics' reviews
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"Marvin's Room is not only sharply written and well-acted, but it's also the rare sort of film that takes an honest and uncompromising look at death and dying"
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"Though comedy is an intrinsic part of the play, director Zaks has not found a way to translate it effectively on screen"
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"The famous faces make it difficult, at first, to sink into the story, but eventually we do; the characters become so convincing that even if we're aware of Keaton and Streep, it's as if these events are happening to them."
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"An old-fashioned weepie of noble mien with many bright moments and a superb cast"
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"Keaton and DiCaprio manage to bring several levels of emotion to their characters, but everyone else is a cardboard cut-out."
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"Great actors do what they can in a simple and largely unaffecting story"
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