The Ordinary People

It does not want to shock you, provoke you, frighten you, intellectually stimulate you, or even teach you anything you do not already know.

Putting it crudely, I don't think a first-time director should make such a display of his own sensitivity. What Redford reveals of the Jarretts just isn't surprising or complex enough to justify all this gravity.

The movie is just as sanitized as the fantasy of upper-middle-class life it sets out to expose. And it’s just as empty and orderly.

A stunning and emotionally devastating look at a modern family, complete with a frank dissection of mental health, lead by a career defining performance from Timothy Hutton and thoughtful direction by Robert Redford.