Terms of Endearment Movie Information

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Movie Information

Overall Rank: 871

Average Rating: 3/4

# of Ratings: 120

Theatrical Release Date: 11/23/1983

Language: English

Genre: Drama

MPAA Rating: PG

Director: James L. Brooks

Actors: Jack Nicholson, Danny DeVito, John Lithgow, Shirley MacLaine, Debra Winger, Lisa Hart Carroll

Plot: A mother/daughter duo have differences of opinions about how run each others lives and display love in different ways.

Logan D. McCoy - wrote on 05/28/2019

Although its balance between comedy and drama is shakey at times, it's a bitter-sweet little movie with a lot of heart.

Kyle(The Rebel) - wrote on 08/28/2012

Funny and heartbreaking, this Oscar winning film features brilliant acting, writing and directing. A five hanky movie if ever there was one. Haunting soundtrack.

mitchellyoung - wrote on 12/15/2011

The acting is the redemptive part of this story, which kind of has a downer of a plot that drags occasionally. Shirley Maclaine is the true standout here, but I also enjoyed Danny Devito in a non-creepy bit of acting.

Daniel Corleone
Movie God

Terms of Endearment review

Daniel Corleone - wrote on 01/03/2013

An interesting story about relationships and friendships. Aurora (Shirley MacLaine) and Emma Greenway Horton (Debra Winger) have a close mother-daughter relationship. Emma marries college professor Flap Horton (Jeff Daniels) and bear 3 children, Tommy, Teddy and Melanie. Emma enters into an affair with banker Sam Burns (John Lithgow) while Flap is enamored with Janice. Aurora gets close with obnoxious neighbor astronaut Garrett Breedlove (Jack Nicholson).

The performances were spectacular, especially from MacLaine. The score was endearing and timely, direction superb and screenplay so realistic. It may have more drama and less humor compared to the director's works, it was still entertaining. Best lines: Emma - "That's because you're never satisfied with me." "And you're gonna …

Arbogast1960
Producer

"What do you mean? When do we fight?"

Arbogast1960 - wrote on 08/09/2009

Terms like "studio" and "Hollywood" are anathema to many film lovers, and with good reason. The glossy sheen of so many middlebrow pictures wears thin, and their depictions of "real life" usually seem un-lived in and fatuous to any living being. The miracle of Terms of Endearment is to be a major studio production, with all the big stars and shiny trappings that implies, and yet also to be populated by real characters and small observations. Each of Shirley MacLaine, Debra Winger and Jack Nicholson have big, laugh-out-loud scenes and star turns, and yet their interactions are utterly believable. They are archetypes (the starched harridan with the concealed soft spot; the effervescent pixie struggling with adulthood; the aging lecher), and yet they imbue those archetypes with …

Delorted
Producer

Reviews - Terms of Endearment (1983)

Delorted - wrote on 11/21/2007

Aurora Greenway (Shirley MacLaine) and her daughter Emma (Debra Winger) were never the best of friends. The lives of these two women are chronicled in the Best Picture winning film, "Terms of Endearment."

It seems the movies I dread watching are almost always the ones I end up loving. There is no exception with "Terms of Endearment," which is by far one of the best romantic dramas ever made.

Jack Nicholson gives another wonderful performance as Garrett Breedlove, and the relationship between Aurora and Emma is played out beautifully. The rest of the cast is equally talented, including the children (Troy Bishop, Huckleberry Fox, and Megan Morris).

"Terms of Endearment" is a touching, beautiful film that I highly recommend, especially as a date film. Trust me, your girlfriend will …