Olive Kitteridge

2014 "There's no such thing as a simple life."
8.3| 3h53m| NA| en| More Info
Released: 02 November 2014 Released
Producted By: Home Box Office (HBO)
Country: United States of America
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
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The story focuses on a middle-school math teacher Olive and her relationships with Henry which spans 25 years over the four parts. It is based on Elizabeth Strout’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel.

Genre

Drama

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Olive Kitteridge (2014) is currently not available on any services.

Director

Lisa Cholodenko

Production Companies

Home Box Office (HBO)

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Olive Kitteridge Audience Reviews

Sexyloutak Absolutely the worst movie.
Siflutter It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.
Nayan Gough A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.
Zandra The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.
SnoopyStyle It's 25 years in the marriage of Olive (Frances McDormand) and Henry Kitteridge (Richard Jenkins) in small town Maine. They have a son named Christopher who has a troubled relationship with his cantankerous mother. Her personal demons stem from the family history of depression and her father's violent suicide. She's a junior high math teacher who develops a connection with fellow cranky teacher Jim O'Casey. Kevin Coulson is one of her student whose mother Rachel Coulson (Rosemarie DeWitt) is struggling with debilitating depression. Henry is the town pharmacist. Denise Thibodeau (Zoe Kazan) and Jerry McCarthy (Jesse Plemons) work for him in the store. His nice guy personality leads to flirtations with Denise especially after the hunting accident death of her husband, also named Henry. There are many people in and out of their lives over the years including finally the rich crank Jack Kennison (Bill Murray).This is a four hour HBO mini-series. So much happens and yet nothing really does in this marriage. They keep going on despite the many issues in their relationship. It gets really uncomfortable with Henry and Denise in that truck. There are amazing performances. I do wonder if this could work even better as a two hour indie darling. I could see this winning awards after stripping out a few side stories. The drug robbery could be dropped. Honestly, I couldn't stop thinking that it's Bill Murray every time he shows up on the screen. His part could be done with a lesser known actor as a final scene with Olive. Overall, this has amazing stuff although some of it is over-extended.
statuskuo You could watch this series along with "Terms Of Endearment" and get a really good dose of dysfunctional family dynamics. And learn something about growing old. And that we're not all that different. You can learn a lot from tough ol' broads. Or you can resent them. The one thing we know is, they will outlive their supposed time on Earth.The titular character is played pitch perfect by Frances McDormand. Already an old soul when we first seen her in the Coen Brothers movies, she is the epitome of hard as rock stubborn New Englander. Educated by life experiences, her harsh reality is that tragedy has shaped her into a flawed diamond. Indestructible in her set ways, she lives with regret and unknowing to her (but every clear to us) projects her resentment towards the people who actually love her. Unfortunately, in her path is her kind hearted husband Henry Kitteridge (Richard Jenkins), in a stunningly sympathetic and patient man who reaches out to help lost young girls, but does so with the distancing manner of a father. There appears a sexual predator is a foot, but that isn't Henry's nature. He is the town pharmacist who we can see may have had bigger dreams in life, but is content to fulfill his duties to the community. He's seen first as a step rug, then a sounding board, but finally…a man. All the parts of which make up a marriage in a small town community dynamic. We could've/would've/should've is pushed so far into the backburner as to cause conflict. And the developments of our youth are shaped by the overwhelming need of parents to control. You will reap what you sow. There wasn't a false moment in this mini-series. It's often painful, a lot of humor, bittersweet moments, tragedy and a lot of moments as I watched the outcome of their history turn to foreshadowed misery that I mutter "Damn…that sucks that happened." Not out of pity, but that it is a universal storyline that we all get sickened by.There are a lot of moments of grimness. In particular, the ease of resolution and mental issues. Even as late as my own generation, mental illness was seen as an embarrassment. People were considered spazzes if they were hyperactive. Or if their parent had drug addiction or drinking problems, they'd be ignored. The kids tend to shrug that off. That's the issue though. Cause life will give us obstacles in the form of relatives or spawn. We are owed nothing, but seem to carry on this notion we're suppose to be living someone else's life. We suppress our needs, if we genuinely care about people. Lost are the times when we hold back, now is the time when people often give up too soon. Is Olive's decision to power through life unhappy the right course for you? Probably not. But it's something to be admired. This mini-series is amazing.
mb-155 So I am just about getting in to this fairly 'masochistic' drama, which is pretty good, but had to pause to point out not every very clever person is depressed and mean spirited. Being mean spirited Olive Kitterridge has to smugly point this out near the start. In my opinion life is not as black and white as that Olive.There is a continuing run on creating drams where to be clever somehow or other equates to snide remakes, sarcasm, and people with mean spirits and so on and are also 'dysfunctional' in some way. Step forward the character Bill Murray always plays. He was brilliant in Groundhog Day and for me that's where it ended. He always plays that sort of part. Well good let's balance the books when the world appears to need 'negative' dramas like this roll them out and that is what people now like.But she made this point about cleverness and depression in the first part of the film. I am sorry but this is not true. This trend is typified in other dramas like 'House' where the lead also happens to be a 'mean' person who is clever etc and in Doc Martin where, through no fault of his own, the lead character has a psychological illness but often has a 'mean' character. Reading the reviews on here people love this sort of drama. So be it.All I want to do is make is a small point and that I know a person, very close to my wife and I who is very clever IQ 130 at junior school tested by county psychologist and both my wife and I have had to deal with his huge depressions but he is not always making snide remarks and is not prone to sarcasm either. He has had huge issues settling down in life though.He has pitch perfect hearing and plays brilliant improvised classical music when he is very sad. He is never as good on the piano when he is happy. I would hate to think being clever equates to being spiteful to one and all. Don't get hoodwinked into believing this. There are plenty of low IQ nasty people and high IQ sarcastic people but also lots of 'nice' people with very high IQs. This film is set from the 1980s onwards heading towards the me, myself and I world. I guess very different from the post war era from when they were rolling out films like James Stewart in It's a Wonderful Life altogether a much easier film to watch for a sentimental person like me - even if it's in black and white.
Tejas Nair Olive Kitteridge is a fable regarding original people in original situations. The subtlety with which Lisa Cholodenko carries the four-hour mini-series is what emphasizes the story about a woman who is childish yet cruel, sappy yet caring, wildly honest yet deeply depressed.I like Frances McDormand very much. Her cheekbones speak more than her mouth, and in here, the air she adopts of the titular character is splendid. She makes you wanna hate her and love her at the same time. Supported by the great Richard Jenkins and amusing Bill Murray, the story of the life of Mrs. Kitteridge is what we can relate to with our own lives. Elizabeth Strout's Pulitzer Prize winning novel gleams originality and its adaptation doesn't lag any behind.The four episodes each talk about certain periods of her life and it ends with a very good moral. The characters hold truth in them and we start becoming judgmental, without even knowing it. Themes such as bereavement, depression, and paranoia is rampant in the series and you will be stunned to find connections between them.The actors have been directed and shot well. The countryside locations serve as the perfect background for the story. I must say I am impressed by the whole cast and crew for giving me a piece of pie called Olive Kitteridge.BOTTOM LINE: Not many people know about this series, and it will be my duty to recommend it to people who love original dramas that are not just crime-related a la Fargo (2014) and True Detective (2014).Can be watched with a typical Indian family? YES