Adapting plays for the big screen is a tricky business, especially when a playwright takes on the task him or her self.  Sometimes they come across as artificial or very cramped or stagy in some respect.  When done right, however, a well-adapted play can be organic and filmic and incredibly rewarding because its literacy and multiple layers of meaning.  Such is the case with Tracy Letts’ play, August: Osage County.

Veteran television producer-director John Wells directs Letts’ play, which focuses on one distinctly dysfunctional family in one hot month in rural Oklahoma.  Describing the tangle of relationships would be difficult, if not pointless, but the key roles are filled by women.  Mother Meryl Streep dominates three grown daughters (Julia Roberts, Julianne Nicholson and Juliette Lewis), as well as their husbands, children and boyfriends.  A family crisis leads to a reunion of sorts, which escalates into something else entirely.

Letts’ drama is front and center, as each daughter has her own issues and backstory, which of course interrelates with the others’.  It occurred to me as I was watching that Eugene O’Neill and Tennessee Williams would be proud, although they might not have resorted to so much profanity.  I especially thought of O’Neill’s dark dramas “Long Day’s Journey Into Night” and “The Glass Menagerie” although his families seem comparatively normal.  And it is a real compliment that Letts’ material is as dense, complex and meaningful as those two theatrical stalwarts.  Ultimately, the drama in August: Osage County is more modern and accessible to audiences of today, yet reinforces the ties that bind of familial relations.

Wells’ movie is superbly cast and superbly enacted.  Meryl Streep, as should be expected, is nothing short of brilliant.  I wish she hadn’t won her third Oscar for The Iron Lady a couple of years ago because she is certainly better and more deserving here.  On the other hand, Julia Roberts and Julianne Nicholson are equally good — this may be the best Roberts performance I’ve ever witnessed.  Nobody is bad, or even mediocre, in this ensemble.  The writing is pure and the acting is sublime.

But the dichotomy of this movie is that it is awfully uncomfortable to sit through.  The term “raw” does not begin to describe some of the emotional wounds that are opened and inflicted between people who, because they are related, still love each other.  It’s an allegorical blood bath in many ways, and it is not particularly pleasant.  As much as I appreciate the movie’s artistry and professionalism, its content made me glad that I am not part of a large family like the one presented.  Wow.  So at the same time I think that August: Osage County may be a great movie — but I want to hesitate before I recommend it.  Be warned, it isn’t a picnic.  This is one family reunion you may not want to attend.  ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆.  13 January 2014.