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''Marvin's Room'' is a 1996 American
drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-gen ...
directed by
Jerry Zaks Jerry Zaks (born September 7, 1946) is an American stage and television director, and actor. He won the Tony Award for Best Direction of a Play and Drama Desk Award for directing '' The House of Blue Leaves'', '' Lend Me a Tenor'', and ''Six Deg ...
. The script was written by
John Guare John Guare ( ;; born February 5, 1938) is an American playwright and screenwriter. He is best known as the author of '' The House of Blue Leaves'' and ''Six Degrees of Separation''. Early life He was raised in Jackson Heights, Queens.Druckman ...
and based on the play of the same name by Scott McPherson, who died in 1992. McPherson had completed a screenplay for a film version before he died; however Guare was hired to update it when the film eventually started production years later. It stars
Meryl Streep Mary Louise Meryl Streep (born June 22, 1949) is an American actress. Often described as "the best actress of her generation", Streep is particularly known for her versatility and accent adaptability. She has received numerous accolades throu ...
, Leonardo DiCaprio,
Diane Keaton Diane Keaton (''née'' Hall, born January 5, 1946) is an American actress and director. She has received various accolades throughout her career spanning over six decades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, two Golden Glob ...
,
Robert De Niro Robert Anthony De Niro Jr. ( , ; born August 17, 1943) is an American actor. Known for his collaborations with Martin Scorsese, he is considered to be one of the best actors of his generation. De Niro is the recipient of various accolades ...
,
Hume Cronyn Hume Blake Cronyn Jr. OC (July 18, 1911 – June 15, 2003) was a Canadian-American actor and writer. Early life Cronyn, one of five children, was born in London, Ontario, Canada. His father, Hume Blake Cronyn, Sr., was a businessman and ...
,
Gwen Verdon Gwyneth Evelyn "Gwen" Verdon (January 13, 1925October 18, 2000) was an American actress and dancer. She won four Tony Awards for her musical comedy performances, and served as an uncredited choreographer's assistant and specialty dance coach for t ...
, Hal Scardino and
Dan Hedaya Daniel G. Hedaya (born July 24, 1940) is an American actor. He established himself as a supporting actor, often playing sleazy villains or wisecracking supporting characters. He has had supporting roles in films such as '' True Confessions'' (198 ...
. Original music for the film was composed by
Rachel Portman Rachel Mary Berkeley Portman,
FilmReference.com
Order of the British Empire, OBE (born 11 December 1960)
.
Carly Simon Carly Elisabeth Simon (born June 25, 1943) is an American singer-songwriter, memoirist, and children's author. She rose to fame in the 1970s with a string of hit records; her 13 Top 40 U.S. hits include " Anticipation" (No. 13), " The Right Thi ...
wrote and performed the theme song "Two Little Sisters", with Meryl Streep adding background vocals.


Plot

Marvin, a man who had a stroke 20 years ago, is left incapacitated and bed-ridden. He has been cared for by his daughter Bessie in their
Florida Florida is a U.S. state, state located in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia (U.S. state), Geo ...
home, and ignored by his other daughter, Lee, who moved to Ohio with her husband 20 years ago and has never contacted her family. Now, however, Bessie's doctor has informed her that she has
leukemia Leukemia ( also spelled leukaemia and pronounced ) is a group of blood cancers that usually begin in the bone marrow and result in high numbers of abnormal blood cells. These blood cells are not fully developed and are called ''blasts'' or ...
(the same disease her and Lee's mother died from in their youth) and needs a
bone marrow transplant Hematopoietic stem-cell transplantation (HSCT) is the transplantation of multipotent hematopoietic stem cells, usually derived from bone marrow, peripheral blood, or umbilical cord blood in order to replicate inside of a patient and to produ ...
and she turns to her sister for help. Lee, in turn, turns to her 10-year-old son Charlie and 17-year-old teenage son Hank, the latter of whom has been committed to a
mental institution Psychiatric hospitals, also known as mental health hospitals, behavioral health hospitals, are hospitals or wards specializing in the treatment of severe mental disorders, such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, eating disorders, dissociati ...
for setting fire to his mother's house. However, the rebellious Hank says he won't submit himself to be tested for a match. Nevertheless, they all travel down to stay with Bessie. When Lee finds that she may have to take over her father's care, she at first begins shopping around for
nursing home A nursing home is a facility for the residential care of elderly or disabled people. Nursing homes may also be referred to as skilled nursing facility (SNF) or long-term care facilities. Often, these terms have slightly different meanings to i ...
s, fearing that she'll have to uproot her life. Eventually, however, the estranged family grows close and Hank agrees to get tested. As Bessie progressively seems to get worse, and testing shows the boys are not a match as bone marrow donors, Lee comes to terms that it is now her turn to take care of her family. The film closes on Lee familiarizing herself with her father's medication, as she walks into his room with his lunch, overlooking Bessie flashing sunlight off the mirror that makes Marvin smile.


Cast


Reception

The film holds an 84% approval rating on
review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...
Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wan ...
based on 50 reviews and an average rating of 6.7/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "''Marvin's Room'' rises above the pack of dysfunctional family dramas thanks to an impeccable cast that includes Meryl Streep, Diane Keaton, and Leonardo DiCaprio."
Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...
gave the film a score of 68 out of 100 based on 20 critical reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".


Accolades


Further reading


Marvin's Room
''Screen Adaptation: A Scriptwriting Handbook'', by Kenneth Portnoy. Published by Focal Press, 1998. . *
Grace in Suffering: ''Marvin's Room''"> Grace in Suffering: ''Marvin's Room''
''Praying the Movies: Daily Meditations from Classic Films'', by Edward McNulty, McNulty. Geneva Press, 2001. .


References


External links

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''Marvin's Room''
at
San Francisco Chronicle The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and Michael H. de Young. The p ...
. {{DEFAULTSORT:Marvin's Room 1996 films 1996 drama films 1996 independent films American drama films American independent films Films about cancer Films about dysfunctional families Films about sisters American films based on plays Films shot in Florida Films shot in New Jersey Films shot in New York City Films produced by Scott Rudin Films scored by Rachel Portman Films about mother–son relationships Miramax films 1996 directorial debut films 1990s English-language films 1990s American films