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Oh boy, I was not expecting this. For me, I think Ordinary People might hit closer to home than almost any other film. In particular, the character of Conrad... is me. Everything from the droopy look at stature, to his emotional capacity, to the individual characteristics of his life. Spending time with friends he doesn't like and can't relate/talk to, doing sports because his family wants him to and not him(for me instead of swimming, it's snowboarding), the family disconnect(my mom isn't so much cold, as one of those "I'm so dumb and ditzy! Whee!" foreign wives I can't respect), and just not being able to enjoy a lot of things in life. The restaurant scene where the jocks come in and make his date giggle while he just sits there glum and not getting the funny part of it, was a "holy shit" moment for me... not enjoying these moments while everyone else can is something that tortures me. The only thing missing was that I've never turned to a suicide attempt thankfully, and my psychiatrist is emersing myself in the internet and dvds at home.

Apart from that, the movie itself practically is flawless. It's just 3 characters and a therapist talking and spilling for 2 hours, but boy does it ever do a good job with its character dynamics and dialogue. Every one of them, just gets stripped down, it gets into all and brings out every cranny of this family. Acting by Hutton, Moore, and Sutherland is amazing. Screenplay is also just perfect.

I feel this is a nice companion piece to say, American Beauty. While I think that film is ultimatley stronger and a greater achievement, this is the flip-side of it in that it is a surburbia family story, just completly raw and honest and stripped down, it is sad and it is lonely and it is at times hard to sit through, particularily for me considering my comparison to the lead, and how the film brought out a lot of my issues to the forefront.

It would probably make my top 50 or 60, if not higher. The win over Raging Bull was also completley deserved, and it stands as one of the more right Picture winners out there. I can't recommend this movie enough.

An amazing look at one seemingly ordinary family that goes through one tragic event after another. The acting is flawless, especially (at the time) newcomer Timothy Hutton. Even though I loved Raging Bull, this deserved the win over it in my opinion.

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i couldn't identify with this movie any more. it should be a lot more popular. it's just not a feel good movie. but damn it's good.

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Damn, I caught this by accident this morning on TV and I was completely devastaded. The Conrad character is also a little bit like me... except that I didn't lose a brother (but I have an older sister), I didn't see a shrink (yet) and well... other minor stuff. And the performances... omg.. I think I need to redo my top 50, RIGHT NOW (even if I missed the first minutes)!


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Raging Bull is very good, but this one deserved the Oscar, yeah.

We greatly undervalue Ordinary People today. It's really powerful. Hutton, Moore and Sutherland (in a wonderfully subdued performance) ripped my heart out when I first saw it.

Great movie and I especially loved the adapted score and the fact that it was very low-key. How come Sean Penn became the big star and Timonty Hutton a C lister?

I think Donald Sutherland should have been in the Supporting Actor slot instead of Judd Hirsch and Timothy Hutton in the Best Actor slot (though he would have lost to De Niro in the much overrated movie already mentioned).

I just watched this for the first time last night and thought it was absolutely stunning. Can't stop thinking about it. Timothy Hutton's performance is FLAWLESS, and the climactic scene where he discovers his friend has died and has the subsequent meeting with his therapist is gut-wrenching. A new favorite. A