Cast: Meryl Streep, Renée Zellweger, William Hurt, Tom Everett Scott
Director: Carl Franklin
Producers: Jesse Beaton, Harry J. Ufland
Screenplay: Karen Croner based on the novel by Anna Quindlen
Cinematography: Declan Quinn
Music: Cliff Eidelman
U.S. Distributor: Universal Pictures
Sometimes, the performance of one actor can elevate a mediocre script to the level of solid entertainment. This is a phenomenon we see again and again, and One True Thing is just the latest example. Perhaps surprisingly, however, that performance does not come from veteran screen presence Meryl Streep, who plays a woman dying of cancer. Streep is good in the role, but, frankly, this is the kind of part she could play in her sleep. Likewise, Oscar winner William Hurt is solid, but not spectacular. The one who rivets our attention with her pouty expression and subtle demonstrations of pain is Renée Zellweger, showing an extension of the talent she exhibited in both Jerry Maguire and The Whole Wide World.
Zellweger is Ellen Gulden, an ambitious young writer working for a New York-based magazine. When the film opens, it's 1988, and Ellen is being questioned in connection with the death of her mother. Kate Gulden (Streep), a beloved member of a small upper New York state community, died in her sleep at the age of 48. At the time, she was suffering from advanced, terminal cancer, but the cause of death was a morphine overdose. Also under suspicion is Kate's husband, George (Hurt), a local college professor.
The story gradually evolves in flashback, showing Ellen's sometimes-contentious relationship with her mother and her unswerving devotion to her father. When Kate's condition is diagnosed, George pleads with Ellen to quit her job and come home to help around the house. Apparently, George is too busy at work, Ellen's younger brother, Brian (Tom Scott Everett), is away at college, and a nurse "won't do." Somewhat resentfully, Ellen agrees to return to the nest. Soon, she finds herself losing her own identity as her mother's lifestyle swallows her up.
One True Thing is based on a novel by Anna Quindlen, and director Carl Franklin (Devil in a Blue Dress) has chosen to model the movie as a tearjerker, albeit a superior one. There are plenty of moments of sentimental melodrama (making Kleenexes a mandatory accessory), but there are also instances of surprisingly keen character insight. Although George, Kate, and Ellen start out as stereotypes, they quickly evolve beyond that baseline level. Ellen is like a wounded animal, lashing out in all directions, seeking a target. George's self-assurance is a carefully-constructed illusion. And Kate is all too aware of what's going on around her. "There's nothing that you know about your father that I don't know -- and better," she tells her daughter at one point. The relationships between these individuals are suitably complex; there are no clear-cut boundaries separating love, admiration, and resentment. And the issue of euthanasia is handled sensitively and intelligently, without the film makers getting on a pulpit to preach down to us.
Ellen is clearly at the film's emotional center. It has been her life's goal to become like her father. She has always been in awe of him - a big shot writer with a prize to prove it. By following in his footsteps, she has sought to earn his love, but all she gets is a rather unflattering commentary about what her writing lacks. In the process, Ellen's personality becomes a mirror image of George's. She is so cold and withdrawn that one character remarks that ambition is her religion. Only in the end does Ellen see that in focusing so completely on capturing her father's affection and approbation, she has effectively done the same thing to Kate that George did to her. One True Thing is as much about Ellen's growth as it is about family relationships.
One of Franklin's few missteps is to structure the movie using the framing device of Ellen's questioning by the local authorities. There doesn't seem to be any compelling reason to present the story this way, and the constant fractures in the narrative are irritating. Every time we're really getting involved in the plot, there's a sudden break, and we're in the "present," listening as Ellen answers another of the police chief's questions.
One True Thing will undoubtedly be pigeonholed as a "chick flick," and it's not an unreasonable classification. Like Terms of Endearment, the movie deals with the two issues most likely to draw raves from the average female viewer: a well-defined mother/daughter relationship and a slow death. However, I would argue that One True Thing is a little less overt than Terms in its approach to these issues, and that makes it a less cloying experience. There's no denying that One True Thing is affecting, and, although the plot rarely excels, the actors bring enough to their roles to transform this motion picture into a satisfying weeper.
© 1998 James Berardinelli