Audience Rated by buyers R (Restricted)
Type of bind: Video On Demand
Release Date: November 20, 2008
Running Time: 128 minutes
Sale Popularity Level: 25640
Studio: Universal Studios
Theatrical Release Date: September 17, 1998
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Rated by buyers 
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Great movie. I was immensely disturbed towards the end. Especially when the scene where the mother talks with her daughter about why she still loves her father even though she knows everything about him. Here's a line I will remember for a long time - "There is so much to be happy about what you have...". At the same time, I was angry at the father who in my opinion did not understand his wife's love for him. He was too proud. Even on the night when he was sitting drunk in a bar while his wife is in pain, all he was mad about was some famous author not remembering his book. At times like these, you want to jump off your seat and just lecture this guy about what life is about. I was also upset to see that he did not stay with his wife through the night, especially on her last night. Especially when she accepted him as a drunk husband, the night before. What love!
I have not been in a situation of giving care to a cancer patient. But after watching this movie, I know that if that option comes my way, I will do it! Love is Sacrifice. And this movie depicts an important aspect of that sacrifice.
The sad thing about such movies is this - We move on after being affected for a couple of days and then forget all about it. Our personal lives have become tangled and busy to let such a movie impact us for good. Sad.
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One True Thing tells the touching and sensitive story of how a young woman (Ellen Gulden, played by Renée Zellweger) comes to understand her parents and their relationship with each other when a crisis strikes the family. The acting is superb; and the cast is full of top-notch actors: Ellen's mother Kate Gulden is played by Meryl Streep; and Kate's father George Gulden is played by William Hurt. Look also for a fine performance by Tom Everett Scott as Ellen's brother Brian Gulden.
When the action starts, a tough as nails and ambitious Ellen Gulden comes home for her father's surprise birthday party. Despite the fact that she looks up to her father as a great writer, the fact remains that Ellen doesn't truly value her parent's lifestyle. In fact, Ellen even acts ambivalently at best without apologies toward her mother Kate who is clearly cherishing traditional values of motherhood that clash sharply with Ellen's values of climbing the corporate ladder as a single woman in a world where it's "dog-eat-dog."
Although Ellen returns to her high pressure job in New York City after the party, it is not long before her father George calls her back home--and this time George wants Ellen to stay a while. Sadly, Ellen's mother Kate has been stricken with an incurable form of cancer and George is too selfish to take nay responsibility for his wife's care. Ellen resents being "stuck with" her sick mother; and she slowly comes to realize that her father George doesn't exactly deserve to be on that pedestal she put him on. Ellen must deal with realizations and the truth about her parents and their marriage that she never dreamed of--for example, her father's endless "flings" with younger woman at the college where he teaches understandably upset Ellen. Moreover, Ellen finally breaks down just enough to ask her ailing mother just how she (Kate, her mother) manages to do all the household work. Ellen comes to realize that household work is truly a challenge in certain ways. The scene in which Kate talks to her daughter Ellen about the understanding, work and compromise that make a marriage successful is particularly powerful.
What happens when Ellen's mother Kate is in her final days? Can Ellen and George take the stress or do they fail to rise to the occasion? Moreover, throughout the movie Ellen is seen talking with the local District Attorney about exactly how her mother died--it seems that Kate died of a morphine overdose. This, of course, creates a "flashback" type of movie. Did Ellen or George intentionally give Kate an overdose to help her end her suffering? The answer may surprise you.
The DVD comes with a few extras; I really enjoyed the featurette in which the principle actors discuss their feelings about the film and working with each other. We get information about the careers of the actors and producer Carl Franklin gives his thoughts about the movie as well.
Overall, One True Thing is a movie with brilliant performances by all the actors and the movie thoughtfully examines the relationship dynamics within the Gulden family. We learn that in many families, not just the Gulden family, things are not what they always seem to be; and we learn how Ellen slowly but surely becomes a better person for having had a chance to truly get to know her parents, especially the mother she used to devalue so much.
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I drag this out whenever I need a good cry. I don't know why it just hits me so hard, EVERY time. I guess I see myself in the daughter and the appreciation that grows for her mother, who reminds me of my own who passed a few years ago. The story, characters, acting... all amazing. My absolute favorite tear-jerker of all time.
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I teach a Death & Dying Class at a University and I use this film. It gives a different perspective on "suicide" and the family dynamics of a person who is dying.
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Meryl Streep's character was real. I was not impressed with Renee Zellweger's performance at times. I saw too many "Bridget Jones' Diaryisms" in her facial expressions when dealing with serious issues. I would still (very much) recommend this movie. A serious role played by Meryl Streep is generally a beautiful thing to witness.
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