Terms of Endearment (1983)

Director:

James L. Brooks

Writers:

Larry McMurtry (novel)
James L. Brooks (screenplay)

Release Date:

9 December 1983 (USA)

Genre:

Romance | Comedy | Drama

Tagline:

Come to Laugh, Come to Cry, Come to Care, Come to Terms.

Plot:

Aurora and Emma are mother and daughter who march to different drummers. Beginning with Emma's marriage...

Plot Keywords:

Parenthood | Bittersweet | Family Tragedy | Quirky | Compassion

Awards:

Won 5 Oscars. Another 25 wins & 10 nominations

Cast

Shirley MacLaine	...	Aurora Greenway
Debra Winger	...	Emma Greenway Horton
Jack Nicholson	...	Garrett Breedlove
Danny DeVito	...	Vernon Dahlart
Jeff Daniels	...	Flap Horton
John Lithgow	...	Sam Burns
Lisa Hart Carroll	...	Patsy Clark
Betty King	...	Rosie Dunlop (as Betty R. King)
Huckleberry Fox	...	Teddy Horton
Troy Bishop	...	Tommy Horton
Shane Serwin	...	Younger Tommy Horton
Megan Morris	...	Melanie Horton
Tara Yeakey	...	Baby Melanie Horton
Norman Bennett	...	Edward Johnson
Jennifer Josey	...	Young Emma Greenway

Runtime:

132 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Iceland:L | Canada:14A | Brazil:14 | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Chile:14 | Finland:K-12 | Norway:12 | Peru:14 | Sweden:7 | UK:15 | USA:PG (re-rating on appeal) | USA:R (original rating) | West Germany:12 | Singapore:PG

Filming Locations:

1148 Heights Blvd., Houston, Texas, USA

Company:

Paramount Pictures

Trivia:

Debra Winger behaved erratically on the set of this film because she was trying to get over a severe cocaine addiction. At one point, she and Shirley MacLaine got into a shoving match.

Goofs:

Errors in geography: While traveling in the car in Texas, the background shows warehouses from "Miller & Paine", a department store that didn't exist in Texas (but did in Lincoln, Nebraska, where the scene was filmed).

Quotes:

[Lying in the surf after being thrown from the car]
Garrett Breedlove: If you wanted to get me on my back, all you had to do was ask me.

Movie Connections:

Featured in The 80th Annual Academy Awards (2008) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Anything Goes

One of the best of all time

What can I say about this film other than it is, in my opinion flawless. Every performance, every character, every scene... Debra Winger should have shared the Oscar with Shirley MacLaine. Few movies can make you laugh and cry OVER and OVER again, but this one does it for me. Even when I catch a scene on cable, I find myself drawn in emotionally and grabbing for my box of tissues. The mother-daughter relationship is so true-to-life and the chemistry between Debra and Shirley and Shirley and Jack is palpable. It is one of the greatest films ever made and should be required viewing for all mothers and daughters. This is an AMAZING and moving film!