Title: TERMS OF ENDEARMENT

Date: 6/15/1995; Publication: Magill's Survey of Cinema;

Magill's Survey of Cinema

06-15-1995

TERMS OF ENDEARMENT

Abstract:
This film focuses on the loving, but oftentimes stormy, relationship between widow Aurora Greenway (Shirley MacLaine) and her daughter, Emma (Debra Winger). The neurotically prim and proper Aurora has withdrawn from sexual intimacy since the death of her husband. When she becomes involved with former astronaut Garrett Breedlove (Jack Nicholson), however, she experiences a reawakening. Emma, meanwhile, marries badly (in Aurora's estimation) when she takes Flap Horton (Jeff Daniels), student of literature, as a husband. Mother and daughter must put all differences aside when it is learned that Emma has cancer.


Summary:
Reminiscent of KRAMER VS. KRAMER (1979) and ORDINARY PEOPLE (1980), TERMS OF ENDEARMENT also focuses on contemporary relationships, but, unlike those previous films, it does not take on larger social issues. The conflicts in TERMS OF ENDEARMENT are specific to one family yet universal in application. Successfully blending the comic and the tragic, the film's writer-director-producer James L. Brooks has created a character drama with which millions have identified.

TERMS OF ENDEARMENT is the story of two women, Aurora Greenway (Shirley MacLaine) and her daughter, Emma (Debra Winger). As the film's credits appear, the early years of Emma's life are presented in a highly compressed fashion and the rather extraordinary relationship between mother and daughter is deftly established. Aurora, ever-watchful over her infant daughter, pinches the peacefully sleeping Emma to make sure that she is still breathing: When the baby cries in response, her anxious mother is reassured. Approximately ten years later, when Aurora is widowed, it is Emma who maternally comforts the tense Aurora. By the time Emma reaches adolescence, Aurora is struggling for supremacy, trying desperately to influence a daughter who is rapidly growing into a highly individualistic adult.

The contrast between mother and daughter is remarkably clear in these opening moments. Aurora is a well-manicured, exceedingly proper, blonde Bostonian. Emma is Texan -- an untidy brunette with uncontrollable hair and bra straps that are perpetually in sight. Aurora is peach silk pajamas; Emma is thermal underwear and a cranberry-colored, chenille bathrobe. Aurora is Renoir; Emma is Paul Klee.

Against Aurora's advice, Emma marries Flap Horton (Jeff Daniels), a student of literature who is, in Aurora's estimation, seriously limited. In Emma's mind, his charm and sex appeal far outweigh his shortcomings. After the wedding, Flap asks only that Aurora respect his marriage. Realizing, however, that marriage to Emma means acquiring Aurora as well, Flap finds solace in a volume of Stephen Crane. The umbilical cord remains unsevered, his bride and his mother-in-law maintaining their attachment -- via the telephone. During the coming years, the phone bills will be enormous as the two women continue their ongoing dialogue (long distance), sharing their respective points of view on life.

With an initial separation, Emma and Aurora embark on their individual paths of growth. Emma takes the first step, with marriage and alliance to her husband, who has accepted a post as a literature professor at a university in Iowa. Aurora's maturation begins when she confronts the fact that she is alone and that her immediate responsibilities for her daughter have passed. The time has come for Aurora to take responsibility for herself.

Stirrings of Aurora's awakening are evident in her overreaction to Emma's announcement that she is pregnant. Aurora has no desire to be a grandmother; in fact, her grandson calls her "Mrs. Greenway." Aurora is not prepared to accept middle age gracefully. It is the celebration (and acknowledgment) of her fiftieth birthday, albeit two years late, that shocks Aurora into action. Dressed in pearls and a vaguely Victorian dress, Aurora defiantly removes her shoes and marches across the lawn to "the Astronaut's" front door.

The astronaut, Garrett Breedlove (Jack Nicholson), is an over-the-hill playboy -- a paunchy, devilish flirt who is a far cry from the stalwart hero his female admirers imagine him to be. Fond of liquor and young women, Breedlove is the neighborhood satyr, coasting on his fly-boy fame.

Aurora approaches Garrett on the pretense that she is accepting an invitation for lunch that he had extended several years before. Cautiously he agrees, but the date is a disaster. The luncheon turns into an open clash of sensibilities -- the sexy Breedlove in his silver Corvette pitted against the fussy Aurora in her pink, flouncy dress.

Angry and frustrated, Aurora calls Emma to discuss the situation. Instead of the comfort Aurora expects, she gets a confrontation from Emma, who accuses her of avoiding sex. Again, Aurora is propelled in action. She calls Garrett, invites him to her bedroom to see her Renoir, and ends fifteen years of celibacy.

Aurora discovers herself primarily through her love affair with Breedlove. Unable to manipulate or dominate the virile astronaut as she does her grotesque court of perennial suitors, Aurora learns to accept Garrett for what he is -- a self-indulgent sensualist who turns out to be a "nice guy." Through the intimate relationship, Aurora matures from a spoiled child who vacillated between withholding all affections and venting full-blown emotions into a sexually confident and compassionate woman -- proving that fifty-year-olds can still grow up.

Aurora's emergence is intercut with Emma's struggles in marriage. The young wife and mother faces an ongoing barrage of problems: too many bills and not enough money; Flap's suspected infidelity with one of his graduate students; sleepless nights nursing an infant with the croup. Finally, Emma feels the need to explore her desires outside her role as wife and mother.

Sam Burns (John Lithgow) turns out to be Emma's knight in shining armor. A sexually deprived Iowa banker (his wife suffers from a chronic back problem), Sam rescues the financially embarrassed Emma in a grocery checkout line, and soon they are seeing each other regularly. Though their affair is brief, Sam is eternally grateful for Emma's attentions and sexual generosity. She has given his life meaning again. Emma is equally appreciative for the opportunity for self-expression and, perhaps, to even the score with Flap.

As their lives unfold, Emma's strength is revealed through the depth of her relationships. She provides a touchstone for the people around her. She remains loyal to her well-meaning, though somewhat shallow, best friend Patsy (Lisa Hart Carroll) -- even if she does not know Ethel Merman from Mary Martin. As a wife, Emma is accepting of Flap, despite his infidelity, and as a mother, she expresses unconditional love toward her children, in spite of one son's apparent resistance. In contrast to Aurora's tendencies toward artificiality, Emma proves to be a naturally nurturing woman. When Emma receives the shocking news that she has cancer and only a short time to live, her world does not fall apart; rather, it is her family and friends who must examine the fact that they have made Emma the center of their lives.

A farewell trip to New York to visit Patsy shows Emma the validity of her own life. Compared to the life-style of Patsy's pseudosophisticated, urban friends (whose luncheon conversation ranges from divorce to abortion, from yeast infections to vaginal herpes), Emma's values are real. Indeed, her fate is not as tragic as that of these modern women with their wasted lives. Through her impact on the lives of others, Emma has secured her influence on the future.

Emma's greatest challenge and eventual triumph is with her oldest son, Tommy (Troy Bishop). Distant and emotionally blocked, Tommy is critical of both of his parents. Just as Emma could never satisfy her mother, she dies without the expressed love of her child. Her victory, however, is that she remains dedicated to giving unconditional love, no matter how it was returned.

In the face of Emma's death, the other characters must come to terms, not only with the impending loss but also with the process and meaning of their own lives. Emma leaves her children in Aurora's care. Garrett, who withdrew from Aurora when he began to feel an obligation toward her, learns to be supportive and loving without fear of implications. Flap comes to grips with his limitations as a husband and a father. He will probably have a second chance at marriage, but he has lost the opportunity to rear his children. Finally, Aurora will apply her new insights into relationships -- especially mothering -- and she will succeed because at last, she has given up her obsessive desire for control and found love in its place.

TERMS OF ENDEARMENT is an emotionally satisfying film. Provoking both laughter and tears, it provides its audience with a genuine catharsis. Although many critics complained about the film's manipulative techniques, moviegoers did not seem to mind, making it an unqualified box-office success.

From the film's conception, James Brooks perceived TERMS OF ENDEARMENT as a comedy. Indeed, he successfully keeps the maudlin to a minimum. The tragedy of Emma's death is restricted to the last quarter of the film, and even these scenes are peppered with moments of comic relief. Emma's innate humor cannot be squelched, even by terminal cancer; she dies with a smile on her face.

As a tearjerker, TERMS OF ENDEARMENT imitates many classic Hollywood women's films, recalling Bette Davis' death from a brain tumor in DARK VICTORY (1939), Irene Dunne and Cary Grant's tragic loss of an adopted child in PENNY SERENADE (1941), and Ali McGraw's struggle for life in LOVE STORY (1970). While Brooks does rely on established genre conventions, he is never heavy-handed. As writer-director, he provides Debra Winger with a quiet tour de force which recalls the dignified screen deaths of the wistful Margaret Sullavan.

Despite Brooks's skill, reviewers criticized him for the way in which Emma's cancer is abruptly introduced. Seeming to spring from nowhere, the plot's twist and tonal shift is completely unanticipated. Audiences are caught unaware, unprepared through conventional dramatic foreshadowing. Some critics claimed that the narrative turn is unmotivated, therefore unjustified; others argued that while Brook's story lacks dramatic unity, it is remarkably true to life.

For most viewers, TERMS OF ENDEARMENT transcends its structural flaws, its heart lying in its memorable characters. Their distinctiveness keeps the audience entertained, while the episodic rendering of their lives keeps the audience involved and off guard. Time in TERMS OF ENDEARMENT is nonspecific. The general feeling of the passing eras (1948 onward) is expertly suggested through music and dress but has little bearing on the plot. The basic struggles of these women -- life, love, and death -- would be the same in any decade.

Still, to some extent Aurora and Emma are representations of their respective generations. Aurora's sexual repression is not unexpected in a woman who came of age during the 1940's, while Emma's earthiness and frank sensuality reflect the spirit of the 1960's. The acting styles of MacLaine and Winger beautifully complement each other: MacLaine's Aurora is mannered and studied, replete with gestures and facial expressions, while Winger's Emma is natural, heartfelt, and consistently spontaneous.

Faithful to Larry McMurtry's novel in spirit, if not in detail (McMurtry novels were also the source of HUD, 1963, and THE LAST PICTURE SHOW, 1971), Brooks's script is greatly enhanced by the addition of the Garrett Breedlove character; it was Brooks's well-rounded characters and sparkling dialogue that earned him the Oscar for Best Screenplay Adaptation.

Indeed, TERMS OF ENDEARMENT dominated the Academy Awards of 1983, also winning Best Picture, Best Director (James L. Brooks), Best Actress (Shirley MacLaine), and Best Supporting Actor (Jack Nicholson); Debra Winger and John Lithgow competed against MacLaine and Nicholson for Best Actress and Best Supporting Actor. In addition, the film was nominated in numerous technical categories -- Film Editing, Art Direction, Original Score, and Sound.

TERMS OF ENDEARMENT was Brooks's first directorial effort. He is better known as the creator of several well-respected television series ("The Mary Tyler Moore Show," "Lou Grant," and "Taxi"), and many critics found his first feature to be "small-screen" material. Indeed, Brooks's visual style reflects his television background. He reserves the use of moving camera for a few, highly emotional moments (such as Aurora's touching confession of love to Garrett at the airport). For the most part, "talking heads" dominate the film; short takes and short scenes accommodate the brief attention span of the television generation. The episodic structure appears tailor-made for commercials.

The contribution made by TERMS OF ENDEARMENT, however, lies outside its noncinematic form, the film's enormous appeal rising from its illumination of contemporary relationships. Mothers and daughters, fathers and sons, husbands and wives, youthful adulterers and middle-aged lovers all fall prey to Brooks's scrutiny. Skillfully, he reminds the audience that growth comes with time, with risk, and, most gravely, with loss.


Release Date: 1983

Production Line:
James L. Brooks for Paramount

Director: James L. Brooks

Cinematographer: Andrzej Bartkowiak

File Editor: Richard Marks

Additional Credits:
Production design - Polly Platt
Art direction - Harold Michelson; set decoration, Tom Pedigo and Anthony Mondell
Sound - James Alexander
Music - Michael Gore

MPAA Rating: PG

Run Time: 130 minutes

Cast:
Emma Horton - Debra Winger
Aurora Greenway - Shirley MacLaine
Garrett Breedlove - Jack Nicholson
Flap Horton - Jeff Daniels
Sam Burns - John Lithgow
Patsy - Lisa Hart Carroll
Vernon Dahlart - Danny DeVito
Rosie - Betty King
Teddy - Huckleberry Fox
Melanie - Megan Morris
Tommy - Troy Bishop
Edward Johnson - Norman Bennett
Voice of Doris - Mary Kay Place
Doris - Lelise Folse
Janice - Kate Charleson

Review Sources:
AMERICA. CL, January 7, 1984, p. 13
FILM COMMENT. XIX, November/December, 1983, p. 28
FILMS IN REVIEW. XXXV, January, 1984, p. 54
LOS ANGELES TIMES. November 23, 1983, VI, p. 1
MACLEAN's. XCVI, December 5, 1983, p. 69
MS. XII, March, 1984, p. 26
THE NEW YORK TIMES. November 23, 1983, III, p. 18
THE NEW YORKER. LIX, December 12, 1983, p. 149
NEWSWEEK. CII, November 21, 1983, p. 91
TIME. CXXII, November 28, 1983, p. 84

Named persons in Production Credits:
James L. Brooks

Studios named in Production Credits:
Paramount

Screenplay (Author):
James L. Brooks
Larry McMurtry

Color



Video Available.
Genre:
Comedy, Drama

Award Citations:
Academy Awards - Winner - Best Picture - Paramount
Academy Awards - Winner - Best Director - James L. Brooks
Academy Awards - Winner - Best Actress - Shirley MacLaine
Academy Awards - Winner - Best Supporting Actor - Jack Nicholson
Academy Awards - Winner - Best Screenplay (Based on Material from Another Medium)
Academy Awards - Nomination - Best Actress - Debra Winger
Academy Awards - Nomination - Best Supporting Actor - John Lithgow
Academy Awards - Nomination - Art Direction/Set Decoration - Polly Platt and Harold Michelson/Tom Pedigo and
Academy Awards - Nomination - Film Editing - Richard Marks
Academy Awards - Nomination - Best Original Score - Michael Gore
Academy Awards - Nomination - Sound - Donald O. Mitchell, Rick Kline, Kevin O'Connell, Jim Alexander Anthony Mondello

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