ORDINARY PEOPLE (1980) The family next door in silent crisis

In 1980, movie screens were ruled by extraordinary people, including a hunk from Krypton (SUPERMAN II), a spinach-popping sailor (POPEYE), and a galaxy of aliens from the fertile imagination of George Lucas (STAR WARS: THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK). Only one of the 10 top grossers for that year was about ... ORDINARY PEOPLE. Robert Redford’s debut, Oscar winning directorial effort focused on a family in trouble and in denial, and 26 years later it’s still compelling, still at times painful to watch (as the scene when the father admits to his wife that he can't love her anymore). The three leads are superb: Timothy Hutton as the suicidal son, a deserving Oscar winner; Mary Tyler Moore, bravely cast directly against type as the emotion-suppressed mother; and as the sad dad, Donald Sutherland. Only Judd Hirsch playing the psychiatrist falls short - it's a pivotal role, and he’s good in it, but stereotypical. What makes this movie so extraordinary is how well it tells the stories of ordinary people - people we all know