THE EVENING STAR
A film review by Walter Frith
Copyright 1997 Walter Frith
'The Evening Star' is the long awaited sequel to 1983's 'Terms of Endearment.' Shirley MacLaine returns as Aurora Greenway, the firey, outspoken and no nonsense character we came to admire in the first film. As 'The Evening Star' begins it is 1988, approximately 15 years since the untimely death of Aurora's daughter Emma portrayed in 'Terms of Endearment' by Debra Winger. Aurora's three grandchildren are now fully grown and they all have misguided and disfunctional lives. Throughout the course of the movie there are many sentimental moments on film which echo the tone and feel of the first film as we are re-united with old characters and come to know some new ones. The problem 'The Evening Star' has is the inevitable scrutiny it will come under in being compared to 'Terms of Endearment.' If that picture had never been made then there might be something here but while it is entertaining and contains the realistic look of everyday life, it is a disappointing follow up movie with absolutely nothing new to offer. The most memorable character from 'Terms of Endearment' was Garrett Breedlove played brilliantly by Jack Nicholson and his character is desperately needed and guess what? He has a cameo but it comes at a bad time at about an hour and forty five minutes into this movie which runs two hours and eight minutes. We are fed up with the film by the time he shows up and it's a case of too little too late. There is a ridiculous and silly storyline early in the film which has Aurora carrying on an affair with here therapist which lasts about half of the movie and it bored me silly. It is hard to make a good sequel to a movie that won five Academy Awards including Best Picture of the year. For those who don't want the memory of the first film tarnished stay away from this one but if you long for more of the same you'll get it but only on a superficial and less than ambitious level.
OUT OF 5> * * 1/2
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