Ellen Gulden (Renée Zellweger) is a driven NY interview writer. Her father George (William Hurt) is a writer and professor. Her mother Kate (Meryl Streep) gets cancer and Ellen returns home to help out. Only she's not good at it, and has little in common with her housewife mother.
The movie probably needs a bit of comedy to lighten the mood. The subject matter is fairly dark. There is cancer, family dysfunction, and a murder investigation. Renée Zellweger could have shined in comedy. Instead she and Hurt have such angry persona that they are hard to like. The great performance comes from Meryl Streep. This could have been a bad melodrama. Meryl Streep makes it infinitely more. She breathes life into this dying character. There are incredible scenes in this that verifies her as the most talent actresses working.
The movie probably needs a bit of comedy to lighten the mood. The subject matter is fairly dark. There is cancer, family dysfunction, and a murder investigation. Renée Zellweger could have shined in comedy. Instead she and Hurt have such angry persona that they are hard to like. The great performance comes from Meryl Streep. This could have been a bad melodrama. Meryl Streep makes it infinitely more. She breathes life into this dying character. There are incredible scenes in this that verifies her as the most talent actresses working.