Marvin's Room

This stage to screen adaptation about two estranged sisters attempting a reconciliation after one is diagnosed with cancer is sentimental to the extreme, manipulative beyond forgiveness.....and had me close to blubbering like a baby by the time it was over.

Chalk it up to the fact that I had recently lost a grandmother to cancer, but this film nearly devastated me even as I was mad that it was so maudlin. The fact that it works as well as it does is due largely to the fact that such good actors are cast in it. Meryl Streep and Diane Keaton play the sisters (Keaton is the ill one), and while it would never have occurred to me to put these two actresses together, the decision was inspired. And right before he rocketed to international fame, Leonardo DiCaprio does strong work as Keaton's troubled nephew.

I won't even try to defend this film against those who say it's too schmaltzy to bear, but please let the rest of us enjoy it in blubbery peace.

Grade: A-

Marvin's Room (1996) Dir: Jerry Zaks Finally a movie of substance that harkens back to Keaton's earlier successes. Keaton co-stars with drama heavyweight Meryl Streep as two estranged sisters who reunite to deal with Keaton's recently diagnosed leukemia. Keaton's character is hopeful that Streep or one of her two screen sons can be a bone marrow donor for her and thereby possibly save her life. Meanwhile, Keaton has been caring for the sister's long suffering and long dying father, Marvin (Hume Croyn). Adding a little box office punch to the flick is current heartthrob Leonardo DiCaprio as one of Streep's "problem" boys. Though the plot reads like melodrama, and to an extent it is, the movie is fairly subtle and unexpected in its story line choices. If nothing else, one doesn't have the feeling that the writers wrote the screenplay over beers and an episode of Married with Children.

Nominated for Best Actress, Keaton gets to present a more controlled and quiet persona than she usually displays. Streep is typically fine as a used to be good time girl who finally is about to graduate out of beauty school and is having trouble dealing with her sick sister, her dying father and her whacked-out teen son. Definitely worth a view if for no other reason than to fill in the missing Keaton and/or Streep movies you may have missed. And gosh, doesn't Leo look cute!

This film was on the end of Eraser that I taped off Sky Premier, it was purely accidental that I watched it. I started to watch it thinking that it might get me to sleep, but then I found it great. Robert De Niro had all the best lines with his pathetic brother, Bob(Dan Hedaya). Meryl Streep also shone in her screen time with her son, Hank(Leonardo Di Caprio in his best role ever).

I loved the whole dramatic sequences, and found the acting touching and Oscar worthy. Diane Keaton provided all the tears in the film, with the others all providing laughs.

This film was a huge surprise. I don't usually like dramas(although I loved Di Caprio's and De Niro's other film together, This Boy's Life), and I recommend this to everyone who loves good dramas. Rating=4/5

This movie should be reviewed for its great performances from some of the best actors today. Meryl Streep does not fail to shine out as one of the best actresses of all time as an emotionally distraught mother in this tale of hopes, emotions and intense feelings. Keaton, on the other hand portrays her best performance ever, and Leonardo DiCaprio proves that he has talents besides being a heartthrob. This movie really moved me, not because of the story itself but the acting was very realistic....I believe that they all should have received an Oscar nomination. Well done!

Meryl Streep has unparalleled talent. (and no, I don't mean just her much joked-about ability with accents) She constantly takes less than sympathetic parts and gives them a luster few others can, e.g. "The French Lieutenant's Woman", "A Cry in the Dark", Kramer vs. Kramer". Her performance in "Marvin's Room" is another tour de force. Diane Keaton is also marvelous, and DiCaprio is at least playing a character he looks old enough for.