ThiefHott Too much of everything

Afouotos Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

Billie Morin This movie feels like it was made purely to piss off people who want good shows

Aneesa Wardle The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

Paul J. Nemecek One True Thing is a film about a husband and wife dying of cancer. She is dying of inoperable cancer, while he is living with a kind of cancer of the soul. George and Kate Gulden (William Hurt and Meryl Streep, respectively) have two grown children--Brian (played by Tom Everett Scott of That Thing You Do) is a struggling university student and Ellen (played by Renee Zellwegger of Jerry McGuire fame) is a driven journalist on her way up the career ladder.George Gulden is a literary critic and university professor. His wife, Kate, derives her meaning from holding the family together and from her investments in personal relationships. As the story begins, the whole family is together to celebrate George's birthday with a surprise literary birthday party in which each person is to come dressed as their favorite literary figure. It is during this time that the family discovers Kate's cancer, and Ellen is asked to move back home to care for her mother.As our central character, Ellen is struggling to win the acceptance of her somewhat distant father, and to come to with her controlling mother. Each of these characters is struggling with their own private sense of failure. Through small flashback sequences, Franklin connects the childhood of years gone by with the struggles that Ellen faces even today. On the surface, the film appears to be a fairly run-of-the mill two-hanky "weepie". Director Carl Franklin manages to take these cliches and weave them into something a bit more complex, something that is ultimately a bit more satisfying. We discover, for example, that Ellen is being interrogated by the police because her mother died from an overdose of morphine. This subplot adds some distinctive twists to the film (and makes it a timely film considering SAC's Focus Series). Beneath it all, this film is about failure, sorrow, and loss for each of its main characters. But it is also about forgiveness, comion, and grace.To fans of Meryl Streep and William Hurt it should come as no surprise that there is some excellent acting in this film. Hurt's character is not unlike past characters Hurt has played in The Big Chill and The Accidental Tourist. There is a complexity to his performance here, however, that goes beyond what he has done before. George Gulden is a man of ambiguous feelings and mixed motives. Hurt depicts this rather well, sometimes through facial expression alone. Meryl Streep is outstanding as always, and Renee Zellwegger's role provides new challenges that she handles quite well.One True Thing doesn't have a lot of gunfire, heroics, or sinking ships. What is does offer is a poignant story that feels real, that rings true. All in all, an engaging story very capably told.

Syl This film is based on Anna Quindlen's novel about a Harvard graduate who returns home to care for her ailing mother played by who else but Meryl Street. Her daughter is played by Renee Zellweger. Her husband and family patriarch is played by William Hurt who is an English professor in a college town and department chair with his own secrets. The film was filmed in New Jersey and at a professor's house in Madison, New Jersey not far from Meryl Streep's hometown of Bernards, NJ. The film was filmed in New Jersey and featured a lot of New York City based actors like the wonderful Sloane Shelton and Marcia Jean Kurtz. Lauren Graham is featured as one of Ellen's best friend. The story is the usual-based and Meryl Streep does give a terrific performance. She makes the film come alive but she has a terrific ing cast that makes a mediocre script come alive.

disdressed12 this is one very good movie.it's all about love and loss,two pretty heavy themes.it's not at all depressing,but there's a lot of depth her,bot to the story and to the performance of Meryl Streep.there are good ing performances,such as Renee Zellwegger,and William Hurt.James Ekhouse(The dad from the Original Bevery hills 90210)who i really like as an actor,has a small role,as does Tom Everett Scott.but the movie belongs to Streep,who who is brilliant here.also the makeup artists did brilliant work here,as well.this is no lite drama.it's pretty thought provoking.it's pretty intense,so it's not for everyone.but if heavy drama is your thing,you might want to check out this movie.

TxMike My comments may contain some SPOILERS so consider carefully whether you should read them if you have not seen the movie. George Gulden (William Hurt) is a literary professor and author, very disciplined, his wife (Meryl Streep) is not so intellectual, the daughter (Renee Zellweger) forms a closer bond with her father, the son with the mother. Even as a small child, while driving with the family, mother says 'look at those small cows.' Daughter answers, 'they are called calves', to set the tone for the daughter's disdain for her mother's limitations. The daughter grows up a Harvard graduate and a very aggressive investigative reporter in NYC. A visit home, it is clear daughter still worships dad, seeks his writing advice, but minimizes interaction with mom, who is still mom. Then the news, advanced inoperable cancer, mom is dying, dad matter of factly tells daughter she has to quit her job and move home to take care of mom. Reluctantly she does, through a series of incidents gets to know mom and what a beautiful person she is inside, at the same time finding out things about dad that shatter some of her hero worship. Part of the theme is to learn to accept the faults of others, as mom had done with dad, and now daughter has to do with both mom and dad. Near the end, dad tells daughter after mom's funeral, 'I loved your mother, she was my one true thing." Thus the title of the movie.Superb drama, with some of the best actors of our time.