Ordinary People & The Great Santini (1980) movie reviews - Sneak Previews with Ebert and Siskel
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- Опубліковано 13 тра 2019
- This is the original review of Magic by Siskel & Ebert on "Sneak Previews" in 1980. All of the segments pertaining to the movie have been included.
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I saw Ordinary People in the theater opening weekend when I was 15 years old. You know when you see a movie and it changes your entire life? That was me in that theater that day. What a masterpiece.
It's an extraordinary film.
I saw Ordinary People in Barcelona, Spain. I went because a Spanish girl wanted to see Robert Redford, not knowing he was behind the camera, not in front of it. I was still learning Spanish at the time and knew nothing of the film, but got excited when I saw Illinois plates in the opening scene. My excitement grew as the movie took place next door to my home town of Deerfield, Illinois. The movie described my nightmarish suburban existence that resulted in me breaking away to study a year abroad. Needless to say, I was overwhelmed by the movie and astonished that my teenage existence was being represented on a Barcelona movie screen.
@@mindriot91_96 And profound. Saw it with my mom
@@pdxtim97209 I had a similar reaction. I was a city kid, but I also had a parent I was close to and a parent to whom I was not close. In my case, the parents were inverted. It was my father I couldn't connect with. I was from a totally different background than the lead character, but when I saw the movie I felt like it was the story of my life. I was 18. Great movie, though unfortunately underrated and kind of forgotten.
my mother didn't like ordinary people because she saw herself in an unflattering light.
Elias Ashoal A lot of mothers saw themselves in Mary Tyler Moore’s character.
That's good acting by M.T.M.
Same
@Elias Ashoal - if your last name is indeed "Ashoal" ... get thee down to the local courthouse for a name change application !!
What a amazing performance by Robert Duvall in The Great Santini
Duval is always great.
I haven’t seen it. Suppose I should but it’s proving to be hard to find in this digittal online world.
The Great Santini is the movie that Roger suggested seeing INSTEAD of Caligula in his famous damning review of THAT other movie. However, MY response to that proposal was "Fu@k that!! . .. I'm seeing CALIGULA!!".
Donald Sutherland so excellent in this movie
Timothy Hutton so deserved the Oscar he got for Ordinary People. Mary Tyler Moore was Oscar caliber as well and was nominated (Sissy Spacek won for Coal Miner's Daugter, well deserved). I was disappointed that Donald Sutherland wasn't nominated. He gave a great performance.
I didn't see "Coal Miner's Daughter," but I'd still say Mary Tyler Moore got robbed. Her performance was unbelievable.
Problem was Hutton won for Best Supporting Actor, which is ridiculous because he was the central character in the movie. The Academy was too afraid that De Niro would've beaten him for Best Actor. De Niro probably would've still won, but that's the way the cookie crumbles with two legendary performances in the same year. That doesn't make the incorrect nomination right.
amanda davis watch Coal Miner’s Daughter, Sissy Spaceck is incredible.
Judd Hirsch's performance was stellar as well.
@@cliffordshafran9250 and MTM should have been in the supporting category she would have won!
"Adults want to go to the movies, too." You said it, Gene. Sadly, not much has changed since 1980 in terms of Hollywood making most of their pictures for kids and teens.
@Roger Edgerton - Hollywood makes most of their movies for kids- thus the reason PG-13 films and animated kids films are the bulk of films produced each year. Even the horror movies today are a tame PG-13, when they used to be rated 'R'. Very few films are made for adults. It is is the reason I watch streaming shows and rarely go to the cinema, because streaming services have shows aimed at adults.
Yeah Joker isn't for adults. Deadpool is it for adults. What is Hollywood thinking they don't make movies for adults.
@@PetePuebla - You named two movies. Congratulations! Math might not be your strong suit, but those films don't constitute a majority of films made by Hollywood in a year. Most are PG-13 and under.
Hollywood to this very day, still has a very difficult time marketing and making real adult stories. If the actor isn't in a space ship or wearing a superhero costume they have no clue what to do. Good real life dramas are few and far between.
@@delyates2509 - Spot on.
M T Moore was terrific in Ordinary People!!
Plus Duvall is absolutely cruel but brilliant in TGS!!
Ordinary People is one of the best films I've ever seen. I can't believe it doesn't get discussed more often nowadays in light of how much mainstream attention has been given to mental illness.
I saw "ordinary People" in a high school film class in 1998 and it pretty much changed my life
"Ordinary People" is one of my Top 3 Films of all time.
Same here!
Mine too! I believe everyone in America should be required to watch this film. It's a masterpiece.
Yes! And that ending.
@@mikegarrens5286 The ending was perfect.
♥ Ordinary People
I'd suggest Rachel Getting Married. It kinda reminds me a bit of Ordinary People
Surprised they had no praise for MTM. She went on to be nominated for an Oscar. She was phenomenal.
The Great Santini is an excellent deconstruction of being in a military family. I lived near bases for over 20 years.
The Great Santini. An awesome film.
The performances and acting in ordinary people look outstanding. Ordinary People really looks like an oscar-worthy movie.
Hutton won Best Supporting actor, Redford best director, I think best picture too.
@@steveconn wow! I've never seen this movie but just by looking at the previous it looks really really good.
That speech by Duvall in Santini is the real gift he’s giving to his son.... love that scene!
And Mary Tyler Moore’s performance in OP was extraordinary. Her portrayal was a perfect representation of the superficial suburban matriarch who has to have everything just so and everyone around her acting just right...
What an episode. Loved The Great Santini and Michael O’Keefe was so good in it.
I’m shocked they mention nothing of MTM’s revelatory performance in “Ordinary People” and what a casting coup by Redford it was.
The Great Santini is a very underrated movie. What movies had then that they don't anymore is character development. People who are emotionally changed from the beginning of the film to the end of the film. As for Ordinary People, this was the first time Mary Tyler Moore played a "bad guy" which was shocking to her fans who were used to Laura Petrie and Mary Richards. Excellent performances all around. BTW, Blythe Danner is a terrific actress.
Donald Sutherland was great in Ordinary People too, played understated and sad very well.
Ordinary People was like a documentary of my family.
D Stuart mine too. So sorry. Please take care of your self.
I'm a big fan of both films. I was 18 when I saw them, and I felt both were the story of my life. The common theme of these movies is the disparity of parenting between two parents. In both films there's a loving parent and a dysfunctional one. That was my situation growing up, and something I connected with deeply. Unfortunately, these are two largely forgotten masterpieces.
Gene Siskel is absolutely right when he says that Hollywood plays up to the youth market. Now we get so many MCU blockbusters, lowbrow comedies, modern animated films, etc. Don't get me wrong, I like blockbusters too, but I want to see different kinds of movies.
@@JohnSmith-kz8yo Well, that's why Barney was popular with toddlers back in the 90's.
Too true, unfortunately. Despite the successes of these movies, Hollywood still shied away from these types of movies after 1980.
@@cliffordshafran9250 What's worse, kids are running away with the opening week's grosses.
I saw Ordinary People in the theater when it came out. I LOVED it. It is still my favorite drama movie.
Thank you Eric, for adding to the value of my youtube premium subscription.
Thumbs up here is for Ordinary People, a truly great emotional film with stunning acting. And direction. A lesser director would have explicitly shown us Mary Taylor Moore's emotional's breakdown at the end. Bit Redford seems to say no-no that's to easy.
I think it was due to the limitations of MTMs acting abilities! She was excellent in what was asked of her but she’s no Meryl Streep!
I've read the book Ordinary People and there is some stuff they left out that I think would've been better left in. I'm talking about Berger's dialogue. In the film he doesn't give too much advice, I felt. There is a great monologue of his in the book that should've been put in the film.
The Great Santini is the movie that Roger suggested seeing INSTEAD of Caligula in his famous damning review of THAT other movie. However, MY response to that proposal was "Fu@k that!! . .. I'm seeing CALIGULA!!".
Bruce Dern is and will always be one of my favorite actors
I liked him in Coming Home; mostly he's just annoying though.
@@RollingOrmond he's very good in "Silent Running" also; very sympathetic
I literally felt like I was nine years old again watching this clip, thanks!
Reading the book and watching the movie for my senior year highschool English class was unforgettable. It holds up very well 43 years later.
Kind of surprised that either Gene nor Roger mentioned Judd Hirsch as the psychiatrist in Ordinary People, at the time he was the star on Taxi...as far as Middle Age Crazy goes, I remember seeing it on cable years later, and thought c'mon, who'd cheat on Ann Margaret if she was your wife, she was still hot in 1980, but the movie did find use for using the song "Good Girls Don't" by The Knack, so at least there was that....
That WAS in fact a scene from Ordinary People in Ordinary People. Good call, Gene! 👍
I love “Ordinary People” and I’ve watched it many times. Great performances especially Timothy Hutton. I’ve never seen “The Great Santini” for some reason. I’ve also never seen “Middle Age Crazy.” According to Gene and Roger, I shouldn’t. 😊
CR41489 I’ve only seen Ordinary People twice. The first time was about 20 years ago, I loved it and it became one of my favourite films. The second time I saw it was just a few years ago I was afraid that I wouldn’t feel the same way. I was wrong I still loved it.
The Great Santini is extraordinarily underrated. Fine performances by Robert Duvall and Michael O'Keefe from Caddyshack, who was actually Oscar nominated for Best Supporting Actor and lost to Timothy Hutton for Ordinary People.
CR41489 For what my opinion is worth, The Great Santini is one of the best movies I have ever seen.
Full disclosure, I think Duvall is as good an actor I have ever seen, so I may be biased.
I loved these guys. I really do miss them both.
Cancer’s two most unfortunate and tragic celebrity victims.
I am in the minority I feel when I say that Ordinary People and Raging Bull were a toss up for Best Picture. Ordinary People gets a lot of backlash because it beat Raging Bull but I feel both films were worthy winners for the Best Picture. Sure it was a bummer Scorcese was passed up for Oscars for so long but I think he should have got it 10 years later for Goodfellas. It should have won over Dances with Wolves and Scorcese should have got Best Director instead of Kevin Costner. I genuinely like Costner but I feel that should have been Scorsese's year at the Oscars.
Ordinary People was better than Raging Bull.
I can't believe it, but the basketball scene stuck with me for life ... I never knew what movie it was from, saw it on HBO, must have been between 80 and 86
7:05 - Gene's argument could've been made right now.
Loved both the movie and the book. Duvall was so good in this. His performance was almost as good as his role as Gus in Lonesome Dove (arguably his best).
I think Lonesome Dove is his best performance. A true exception that made for TV productions can be just as good if not better than some theatrical movies.
Two of the best movies of all time. I could watch them over and over … if only they were on Tv as much as Shawshank, Pulp Fiction, Django, Forrest, Green Mile, Pvt Ryan……
Pat Conroy wrote this...as well as several other family dramas....they were in his words "a way of explaining my life to myself"......
I’m reading the book and Pat Conroy is great. I’m getting more of his books.
Since two films are mentioned in the title and three in this video: Pat Conroy wrote _The Great Santini._ The novel _Ordinary People_ was written by Judith Guest. Both novels were published in 1976.
I thought Ordinary People would be a snooze fest and that I’d dislike it, much like I do with most Oscar films for best picture. But I found it incredibly good.
I saw the Great Santini 20 years ago when I was in college when the Encore channel was just getting going. It was 99 cents a month and so was all I could afford. I loved that they had a person do an introduction for each movie and I was able to see some older movies I missed while growing up or never would have gone to see on my own.
The Great Santini was one of those that I will never forget. I've grown up with an overbearing father who loves his family but also does not know how to let others win, do better or life their own life. The end of the movie, knowing what the boy had wished for happened always rips my heart out.
Ordinary People is so very painful at times; it's funny, the mother seems to be acting like a repressive male. . . . Buck. Gosh "maybe you were stronger, Conrad!!!!" Judd Hirsch Excellent film, it actually adds a couple of moments that weren't in the novel. Excellent
Eric, thanks for posting these clips. These are great. Do you know a link where I can find Siskel and Ebert's full year by year best and worst lists? Thanks.
Two amazing films! Watch 'em if you have not seen um.
I have seen both, thanks!,
I read their was controversy that Redford beat scorsese for best director & mary tyler moore should have won best actress. Who beat her ? If it was Meryl streep in kramer vs Kramer that's disappointing bc as good as meryl is she was barely in the movie. Moore killed this role. She is amazing as playing the cold as ice beth.
That line beth says to conrad " nick never would have been in the hospital " is brutal. It is a movie that is hard to watch bc we are disturbed to see a mother love one child more & not have any warmth of comfortability with her own son. It's so hard to think this woman gave birth to conrad raised him from birth & seems her mothering instincts for him did not kick in. Their are some moms who bonded so much with their first born that they have no room in their heart for the next child. U also adore Conrad's dad played by donald Sutherland. A broken man who lost one son but loves his other son just as much & finally realizes he must choose between beth ( who is destroying his surviving son ) a woman he loves & had been married to for years or his son. He rightly chooses his son when he finally opens his eyes to see that beth is a cold woman incapable of even hugging his son. All the performances are impeccable including judd hirsh as conrad 's caring psychiatrist who makes a huge breakthrough in conrad by caring. I love the scene where conrad calls him in the middle of the night & rushes to the office to be there for him. Conrad even says " I don't know what I would have done if u werent here " also love when calvin the dad goes in says at first i dont know why I'm here than after talking a little says " i realize why i came. To talk about me" calvin & conrad are ready to pick up the pieces after bucks death bc their is no other option. Life must go on but beth is stuck & wont change.
2 brilliant films.
Agreed. Two excellent pictures.
Ordinary People was good but it was a tragedy that Raging Bull lost to it for best picture
This movie deserves attention from critics as one of the greats.
I was 12 years old
With my mom .
It was a great move
When i was a kid
Couldn't understand mothers.
But now that I'm older
I now understand The Story.
I can see Mr. Duvall in a different light, great actor.
Both movies were brilliant in their own right. Duvall was superb in The Great Santini and probably would've won Best Actor if it wasn't for De Niro. He was a tough, overbearing, but very loving military father. I had to read Judith Guest's "Ordinary People" novel as a high school class assignment. The novel got just the right treatment from Robert Redford and he proved to be a great director. Both movies were critically acclaimed and were box office successes (It took awhile for Santini to catch on.). But, unfortunately Hollywood still shied away from such thoughtful pictures after 1980.
And more and more blockbusters ranked number one at the box office every week.
"Adults have four bucks to spend on movies . . . " LOL! 4 bucks!?!
I cannot sit through Ordinary People from the beginning to the end, it is too painful. The movie is so good it pulls you right into the story and makes you sad. The Great Santini was a surprise to me because I had never seen it. But I could not relate to the nature of that film and the ending was horrible.
@Frank White - Ordinary People is too painful, perhaps, as the subject matter is ... too close to home.
I miss Sneak Previews or any other version of At the Movies.
OK Eric...I love and appreciate that you're posting these reviews, but you need to change the description on this one. This is not a review of "Magic".
Between Santini and OP, I would take the former everytime.
6:38. It was reviewed in Variety Oct 1979...this show was Aug 1980!!!! Variety thought the title Great Santini would suggest a circus story...and thought the studio should correct misunderstanding quickly..so it went on airplanes as The Ace...
Both Great Films, I remember seeing them in the theater when they opened as a 16 yo.
Two great movies that show you people hurt you and disappoint you.
The Great Santini and Ordinary People, take me back to a time where Hollywood made those types of movies and not a dozen Superhero movies every year.
"Middle Aged Crazy" does look promising. It's too bad that it takes such a turn. Maybe I'll still check it out.
OP isn't in Raging Bull class
Both excellent films
Ordinary People might be my all-time favorite. It’s a close tie between that and the very different 2001: A Space Odyssey
Two excellent choices!
Hey its Tommy Doyle! What's worse? Having Robert Duvall as a father or being stalked by Michael Myers?
Holy cow, I'm old!
@Steve Price - re: "I'm old!" We Still LIKE You !!
Funny that "Ordinary People," was given an R rating. I think just because they used the F word twice.
@David Topchiev You mean it would be boring for kids, I assume. Although I saw this movie when I was 14 or 15 and I loved it.
Yeah that's ridiculous. It's mainly because they didn't have the PG-13 rating back then. Otherwise the film would have been rated PG-13. It really doesn't deserve an R rating.
In pre-release Santini was called "The Ace" and all you had was Duvall in front of an F-4. It was my turn to pick a movie and dragged the girlfriend to what I thought was a war movie. She was not happy but I did not care as she had a huge talent for picking horrible films. No, like a savant. So we both go in knowing nothing and come out convinced it was the best movie in years. Then it disappeared. Then maybe a year later it's Santini world. Fun.
Great movies ❤
The great Santini might be a good character study but today we have the Joker which looks in seems a lot better.
Oh, Jesus Christ. The Great Santini is a powerful study about a flawed military man who treats his men like they're his family, and his family like they're military. It's an original story, relatable for those with difficult family dynamics, and full of excellent performances. The Joker is an imitation of a Scorsese film with a muddled message.
How's it going little boy?
Haha. Troll.
You must be joking
Joker was nothing special if you have seen the films it lifts from.
They don't make movies like this anymore. Ordinary People and The Great Santini are both classics.
These guys in a way remind me of a happily married couple lol. I don’t know why. But there report with one another is unique unlike any other male to male connection I’ve ever seen. Very morally grounded and that resonates in their movie observations. Sometimes generationally and even class challenged, but always well intended. Sad that both had to reach the end they did.
@Mark Norman - re: *But their rapport...* (line 2)
Both films about emotional blindness....
Ebert and Siskel? 😀
I think Ordinary People had the edge over Raging Bull at the Oscars. RB is an amazing movie but I was more compelled by OP, and I can't find Middle Age Crazy. Must be unavailable. Haven't seen it in decades.
Raging Bull was beautifully-shot but Jake Lamotta was sort of an empty mook played by De Niro in his one-note muttering style. OP just had more human depth and feeling.
My parents would have literally physically attacked me had I called out their BS!
4 bucks? They thought that was expensive....
gene hollywood execs got the message to get adults in seats for Ordinary People, as did the academy - Best picture.
$4 for a movie...sigh.
Yeah, imagine paying 4 or 5 bucks for a movie today. Then maybe we wouldn't mind paying the outrageous concession prices as much.
I can remember going to a movie for a buck,and getting a haircut for a dollar too.
I remember going to a matinee with $5.00 which was enough for a ticket, popcorn and a drink.😊😷
This kind of intellectual discourse on American TV doesn’t exist anymore. Sad.
😊❤❤
When he threatened to hit his wife and bounced the basketball off her chest, she should have divorced him. When he bounced the basketball off his kid's head to goad him, she should have divorced him as well.
Those WWII veterans were a tough lot and didn’t put up with any kind of disrespect from their children. If you watch the scene, the whole family is rooting for the son to beat the father. And the son showboats in front of all of them and goads Santini before he goes in for the winning basket. And then they all cheer the son for doing so... The father’s reaction was pretty mild actually... And in a follow up scene he expresses regret for his behavior by shooting baskets for hours in the rain... It’s a great sequence...
Divorce would not be on the table for people who dealt with serious life and death experiences together.
Movies used to be about human beings.....
This review is way too simplistic for this film. Ebert sets it up (wrongly) by mentioning that the film starts after the older brother's tragic drowning. True, but that is NOT the point! We learn that much later in the film. More importantly, the film starts when the younger surviving brother has just returned home from a mental hospital after attempting suicide. These clips make absolutely no sense without knowing that premise. Wonderful, wonderful emotionally raw film.
The great Santini a family film? My family would be bored out of their minds.
Robert Duvall is a great actor and it looks like he's the best thing about that movie because acting doesn't seem that well from the rest of the cast and it does seem like a made-for-tv movie. It's a movie you would come to find on the lifetime channel.
Hello lil boy.....
Man, they really spoil every movie they review!
Ordinary People is overrated. Raging Bull should have won Best Picture in 1980
It may be overrated compared to Raging Bull, but it's still one of the best movies I've ever seen. A rare and realistic portrayal of family and grief.
I agree with Samuel. You know, sometimes I feel guilty for how much I love Ordinary People. I have the greatest respect for Scorsese, and Raging Bull is a monument of a film. But Ordinary People had such an impact on me as I was growing up, it was such a revelation on so many levels, it's still one of my favourite and most cherished movies of my life.
@@stonegasman3866 - I hate Raging Bull.
Ordinary People blows
@Ben Fitz: you blow
@@johnbrennan4449 thats not very nice
@@jamsid33 saying Ordinary People blows isn't very nice either.
@@johnbrennan4449 sorry
Ordinary People hasn't aged well, in my opinion. I thought it was just sappy oscar bait.
Ordinary People was what brought about the Oscar Bait film. Before this film, any kind of film had a chance for Best Picture, whether it be a rousing adventure like Lawrence of Arabia, a delightful musical like Mary Poppins, or the hilarious dramedy like Annie Hall. After 1980, it seemed that all Best Picture winners more likely than not went to those high tension or character dramas.
The sad thing is that too many families are like that. I know mine was. Not as many people can relate to the challenges of a professional athlete, at least personally, as can relate to family hell. 😥