Marvin’s Room is one of the few Meryl Streep movies I had never watched, so I had to put it on my list. While not a bad movie, it also doesn’t leave a mark.
Synopsis: two sisters have lived very distant lives for many years. The older decided to stay with their parents and take care of them when they aged, while the younger took off and went on to have two children. Unforeseen circumstances now bring them back together against their will.
Streep plays the younger, flimsier sister and her oldest son is played by a very young Leonardo DiCaprio. Diane Keaton plays the older sister, aid to their infirm father (Hume Cronyn) and their aging aunt (Gwen Verdon). Needless to say, the acting is all fantastic, especially when in the mix you also throw supporting turns by Robert De Niro, Dan Hedaya, Margo Martindale, and Cynthia Nixon.
The script, while well written, creates a story that is perhaps too easily foretold, ultimately leaving little to surprise the audience. We all know that Keaton’s illness will turn out to be serious. That Streep will have to come back home. That DiCaprio will eventually warm up to his estranged aunt. That Streep will ultimately opt to stick around to help her family. It’s all too easy.
The Bottom Line: Marvin’s Room is a movie that offers very few surprises but also doesn’t particularly disappoint. Catch it on a quite night when there’s nothing more pressing to watch.
Grade: 6
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