Purely Joyful Movie!

How sad is this?

The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.

One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

It's 25 years in the marriage of Olive (Frances McDormand) and Henry Kitteridge (Richard Jenkins) in small town Maine. They have a son named Christopher who has a troubled relationship with his cantankerous mother. Her personal demons stem from the family history of depression and her father's violent suicide. She's a junior high math teacher who develops a connection with fellow cranky teacher Jim O'Casey. Kevin Coulson is one of her student whose mother Rachel Coulson (Rosemarie DeWitt) is struggling with debilitating depression. Henry is the town pharmacist. Denise Thibodeau (Zoe Kazan) and Jerry McCarthy (Jesse Plemons) work for him in the store. His nice guy personality leads to flirtations with Denise especially after the hunting accident death of her husband, also named Henry. There are many people in and out of their lives over the years including finally the rich crank Jack Kennison (Bill Murray).This is a four hour HBO mini-series. So much happens and yet nothing really does in this marriage. They keep going on despite the many issues in their relationship. It gets really uncomfortable with Henry and Denise in that truck. There are amazing performances. I do wonder if this could work even better as a two hour indie darling. I could see this winning awards after stripping out a few side stories. The drug robbery could be dropped. Honestly, I couldn't stop thinking that it's Bill Murray every time he shows up on the screen. His part could be done with a lesser known actor as a final scene with Olive. Overall, this has amazing stuff although some of it is over-extended.

While watching this, the first thing that popped into my head was how glad I am that I did not spend my adult life in a small town.The second thing I thought was how glad I am that I'm not married...at least to a woman like Olive Kitteridge.The third thing I thought was what a fine actor Richard Jenkins is. Despite what some people seem to feel, for a character actor, Jenkins has gotten a fair amount of acclaim...all well deserved.Frances McDormand is a very talented actress. But somehow I have yet to see her in a single film that I really liked. All I can say is that she has a strange taste in movie parts.Zoe Kazan as Denise Thibodeau was interesting as a slightly odd young lady.There are films in which Bill Murray impresses me. This is not one. He just seems to be walking through the part.John Gallagher is a young actor that impresses me each time I see him, and he does here.One segment which I felt was particularly well done was where Kevin Coulson returns from being a medical student in New York City, and is contemplating suicide, which Olive realizes, and she prevents it from happening. Very effective segment showing the difficulty of mental illness.I have to admit that I don't quite understand the purpose of the hospital terror scene. It just seems out of place. But, this isn't exactly a film with a script, per se.I'm not sure I understand the purpose of this film. Is it to show that a mean-hearted woman got the life she deserved? If so, it succeeded. It was very slowly interesting to watch...once...but I would have no interest in watching it again. 4 hours was too much. Needed some distinct editing.

I've just read some of the negative reviews about Olive Ketteridge. I thought it was obvious what we were getting into in the first 30 minutes of this brilliant mini series. Yes it's a bit downbeat. But Olive Ketteridge is about real people and real situations, and let's face it it reflects certain areas of real life. I think we've all known characters like the ones portrayed in Olive Ketteridge. All the performances are spot on. Plus there are many areas of Olive Ketteridge that made this viewer smile. So I don't see the negativity. Maybe the negative reviews come from people who wanted to see a Deloris Claybourne or a True Detctive. Olive Ketteridge is about love, loss and what ifs, and that's about it.. But it's told so well that one almost forgets that the story's so simple.

Excellent acting is marred by hateful characters and little character development. Every time there is an opportunity for warmth it is destroyed by the unremitting nastiness of one or more of the characters. If you want to watch a series that will convince you not to move to Maine, this is it. Bill Murray gets high billing, but except for a cameo, he appears only in the last episode. He too is inexcusably nasty, but that's the script's fault, not the actors. Generally the acting is fine. But if you hope to learn something about life from this, you will be disappointed. Your reaction will be to do your best to avoid anybody who behaves like the characters in this series. I watched it to the end to see how they could possibly resolve the unpleasantness of the story, but it never happened. Some writers had great fun putting together all the unpleasant verbal exchanges they could think of. Every time the interaction of the characters indicates that there is some hope, it is dashed by arbitrary nastiness. Whew! The only reason I didn't give it a 1 is the good acting. I think HBO must have been disappointed, and decided to put it out quickly, over 2 consecutive days. Critics seem to like it. Well, critics often like depressing stories; they mistake misery for subtlety.