Fresh and Exciting

Don't Believe the Hype

It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional

There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

Olive Kitteridge features a tour de force performance by Frances McDormand. She is a cold, distant cantankerous school teacher who has had a 25 year marriage with Henry Kitteridge (Richard Jenkins) a kindly pharmacist in small town Maine.I doubt the marriage has been a happy one as she had an affair with a fellow teacher. They have a son Christopher who barely wants to be with his misanthropic mother. It seems Olive comes from a family with a history of mental illness. However she has to reassess her relationship with her husband when he falls ill due to a stroke and needs to care for him. Olive also tries to mend her relationship with her son but that proves to be more difficult.Some time later Olive wants to end it all herself but comes across a wealthy, drunk eccentric Jack Kennison (Bill Murray) and finally feels some tenderness.This is a slow burn series, well acted but at times it does feel like a slog.

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.

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

If you liked McDormand's performance in Fargo, Olive Kitteridge will surely not disappoint. I look forward to reading the book now and only wish that perhaps I'd read it before watching the mini-series. I loved much about this mini-series but most especially the straightforward way that depression is handled. Olive is a complex character (not all bad or all good) and while her behavior might be tough to swallow, McDormand treats us to a realistic portrayal of the disease of depression and how is affects every facet of her life and those around her. Some well played foreshadowing moments and times of contradictory behavior make the plot and characters more interesting. I gave it a 10/10 because this is the kind of movie I enjoy, but know that it might not appeal to everyone, especially if you just want to watch a feel good or relaxing movie. This one will challenge you to think a bit more and examine your own dysfunctional behavior (and/or that of your family) which may not be too comfortable. Also enjoyed the other characters, especially Henry and Christopher.