August: Osage County

Tracy Letts adapted his own play, and John Wells shot it in Oklahoma around Pawhuska and Bartlesville. Meryl Streep insisted the cast live side by side in condominiums near the location. Wells said Streep was already working on the character when they first met, 9 months out. The dinner scene covers 18 pages of dialogue and took nearly 4 days. Wells walked the camera around the table to gather each reaction separately; Streep said the hard part was rebuilding that 18 page run of seething, waiting and pouncing for every partner. Streep and Margo Martindale, who plays her sister Mattie Fae, worked late to align their gestures and speech. The film keeps the play’s close, Violet alone in the house, then adds a short scene of Barbara on the road. Wells tied that to test screenings, saying audiences were frightened by what had become of Barbara; Letts said the ending had never changed, they were only adjusting dials. The 86th Academy Awards brought 2 nominations and no wins, Streep for lead and Julia Roberts for supporting actress. A good fit if you want the meal to work as a siege built page by page, not one outburst. Not for anyone who wants it to stop where the play stops and will read the road coda as softening.