Marvin's Room Details

Based on the play by Scott McPherson, who adapted his work for the screen before dying of an Aids-related illness, this drama never quite escapes its theatrical roots. Nevertheless, this character-driven tale benefits from a clutch of restrained and impressive performances, including one from a pre-Titanic Leonardo DiCaprio. Diane Keaton plays a carer who has been looking after her bedridden father for years, but who is forced to ask her estranged sister Meryl Streep for help after she is told she has leukaemia. To complicate family relations further, Streep arrives with her two sons — Hal Scardino and DiCaprio — and a stubbornness that makes you realise why the sisters have stayed apart for so long. Keaton was nominated for an Oscar for her portrayal of the proud spinster battling a debilitating disease, but kudos should go to the entire cast, especially Hume Cronyn as the grumpy dad and Gwen Verdon as an eccentric aunt whom Keaton also looks after.

A movie that betrays its theatrical origins, and which gives its cast the opportunity for acting with the stops full out, of which they take full advantage.