From the Movie Review Vaults: One True Thing – one true tearjerker
Tom Everett Scott, Meryl Streep, William Hurt, and Renee Zellweger in One True Thing.
It is strange how families can go for years without discussing their underlying problems until a tragedy occurs, bringing everything out into the open. One True Thing shows such a family. One fall, Ellen (Renee Zellweger) goes home to visit her family when, out of nowhere, it is confirmed that her mother (Meryl Streep) has cancer. So Ellen agrees to leave her job as a writer for New York Magazine and her boyfriend behind in order to take care of her mother.
Not only is looking after her mother a full-time job, but so is cooking and cleaning. Her mother is planning a big dinner. “We’ll just order Chinese food,” Ellen tells her mother. Such a remark makes a playful jab at twenty-something women, who hardly have enough time to stop off at Taco Bell, let alone cook an entire meal for ten.
Male viewers beware: This film does not present men in the most positive light. While his wife is dying of cancer, the father (William Hurt) is busy having affairs with his female students. His TA, in particular, is his favorite. Or shall I put it more eloquently, his T & A. Not to mention, Ellen’s boyfriend looks at every woman in sight.
Tom Everett Scott, one of the most talented newcomers to date, has a very limited role here as Brian, Ellen’s little brother, who spouts out one-liners that sound rehearsed. Still, he has one hilarious scene in which he nervously proposes a classic toast: “I failed English last semester, I’m on academic probation, and I’m flunking out of Harvard. Happy New Year.”
The camerawork is excellent, spinning around dizzily as Ellen rushes around, signifying her stress. Moreover, the more muted colored flashbacks provide a solid foundation of key events. The film also makes a very good point about how things aren’t always what they seem. Before she got sick, all Ellen could see in her mother was how boring, annoying, and nagging she was. She is shocked by all of the wonderful traits her mother possesses. On the other hand, her father, the brilliant, Pulitzer Prize-winning author, who, in her eyes, could do no wrong, falls off of his pedestal.
Meryl Streep’s character is an empowering one. People we love come and go in life, but it’s the impact that they have on our lives that counts. She had an amazing impact on her family’s lives, passing her selflessness, strength, and courage in the face of insurmountable odds on to Ellen, leaving her with the realization that in a world where everyone is always saying less is more, more is, in fact, always more.
This article originally appeared in the September 24, 1998 edition of Towson University’s newspaper, The Towerlight. I would like to think that I’ve become a better writer since then and am more well-rested than I was in my college days. I would also like to think that the same thing can be said for my editor at the time. So I’ve made some necessary revisions.
