The Evening Star (1996)

The Evening Star (1996): Dir: Robert Harling / Cast: Shirley MacLaine, Juliette Lewis, Bill Paxton, Miranda Richardson, Jack Nicholson: Enlightening sequel to Terms of Endearment expressing the dusk of life. Shirley MacLaine reprises her role with many new family trials. She visits her son in jail realizing that the brownies she brings are always thrown away. Her daughter quit school and caught having sex with her boyfriend. She decides to see a shrink at the forceful request of her maid. This leads to fornication and a sense of freedom. Screenplay is disjointed and overuses the death theme. We are not as moved by the conclusion as we should be. Director Robert Harling does a fine job at continuing this family and is backed with beautiful photography. MacLaine holds strong as a woman needing a break from routine responsibilities. Juliette Lewis plays her daughter who aims to be an actress. Miranda Richardson plays a nosy neighbor whom MacLaine dislikes because she is closer to her daughter than she is. Bill Paxton plays a shrink with a showgirl mother. Their affair is predicted but her dealing with it is right. The one complaint is that Jack Nicholson merely makes an appearance here and it seems rather tacked on. With a tremendous ensemble cast this makes for a worthy followup to Terms of Endearment with themes regarding age and legacy that allow the star to shine. Score: 7 ½ / 10

Aurora is back again and Boy! she is still disapproving as ever! After the success of the original Terms of Endearment, it was no surprise a sequel was in the works. In fact, as a viewer, I loved finding out what happened to the existing characters. I know at the end of Terms of Endearment, Flap Horton agreed to have Emma's mother raise his children---In this one, he seems to abandon them all together, which I don't think Flap--even though he is a rotter---would he do this? Well, on with the plot...Not all happy endings after Emma's death. Tommy is in jail, Teddy is somewhat nebbish but seems to try and do the right thing at times. Baby Melanie has grown into a pretty but defiant boy crazy teen which drives strong willed Aurora even more crazy.In The Evening Star we see two new character--one old in the earlier film who now has a much bigger part---Rosie Dunlop, Aurora's maid superbly acted by Marion Ross (who played Mrs C in Happy Days) Here we see Rosie had a much greater impact on Aurora's life as not just a maid but as an extended family member. And Rosie feels the same way as she tries to guide Aurora thru life's problems. This time Aurora suffers besides her grandchildrens crisis, she seems to be going thru a change of life or mid life crisis. On advise, she goes to a psychiatrist, played by Bill Paxton, who seems half her age.---and seduces him. I know that this seems to show the audience that Aurora, even though she approaches her elderly years--that she still has "got it". It just seems as a silly superficial not needed sub plot line.One of the most disappointing outcome of the characters from the past movie is Emma's best friend, Patsy Carpenter. In the original movie, Patsy was a self sufficient, sleek well groomed career girl. In the Evening Star somehow she has morphed into a debauched drunken alcoholic only after the money from men that she preys on. She and Aurora are immensely jealous of each other and compete from Emma's children attention and love. I suppose this sub plot is put in for comic relief, it just seems so silly and detached from the characters.And of course, Aurora's love Garret comes back for a brief appearance but jack Nicholson just doesn't have the same pizazz as before. He seems to look as someone is making him star in this movie--just my imagination-you be the judge.The remainder of the film, now focuses on the end of Aurora's days after all her grandchildren have come to terms with there problems. It is very sad and will probably make you think of the emotional scene of Emma's death. The Evening Star is an entertaining film to watch. But I say if you haven't watched Terms of Endearment before it, you may not have the same impact from the original.

"The Evening Star" is one of those movies that you can watch many times. It contains more laughs then "Terms of Endearment" and also less depth. But if you watch this movie in the observation that it is solely entertainment, and not to be taken seriously, it's a lot of fun.Aurora Greenway (Shirley MacLaine- reprising her Oscar winning role) is now dealing with her three grown Grandchildren. One is a saint, Teddy, who is already married with child. Tommy, the "problem child" of the original film, is in prison. And Melanie (Juliette Lewis), the youngest, is struggling through college because she's going through a rebellious phase and likes hanging out with her sleazy boyfriend, or mooching off Patsie (Miranda Richardson), the now very rich divorcée. There's also the loyal housekeeper Rosie (Marion Ross), who despite always being on her duties and quick to have a sarcastic comeback, is falling in love with the next door neighbor Arthur (Ben Johnson- in his last screen performance).All of this is a little hokey, but the performances more then make up for it. When Aurora starts seeing a therapist (Bill Paxton) and then sleeping with him, people start whispering about her reputation. And when Melanie keeps going back and forth between her relationship, she finally finds peace with Aurora, who she at first despised."The Evening Star" is by no means superior to "Terms of Endearment". That movie is a landmark in it's own right. But it is more fun- in my opinion. MacLaine, in a funny performance, seems more lively and witty here then her original time around. And the most fun of all is to watch her and Miranda Richardson go at it - almost like "Grumpy Old Men"- but FUNNIER. A scene in an airplane perfectly displays their hatred for one another- but in a way, they are best friends- since they're always around each other, competing, gossiping or nagging.To wrap it up, it's a long movie with a lot of unnecessary subplots (the death toll was ridiculous), but keep in mind this is also based on the book, so do we blame the filmmakers or the author? "The Evening Star" is a movie that should be watched for a good laugh. You don't have to have seen the first one to understand it. True, Debra Winger is missing (but if you saw the first film you'd know why), but I am rating this solely on how well it entertained me.

A sequel is an admirable intention. You loved characters from a certain film and wanted to see them again, or the original film left some open ends you'd like to see tied up. These marketing tools very rarely live up to a real film, never mind surpassing it, like in Christopher Reeve's version of "Superman". Most of the time, they're unnecessary at best, and vomitous at worst. Yes, dear readers, The Evening Star is Cinematic Ipecak. If queasy film-goers think they're made to vomit at horror films, just wait until they see this one. It's not a horror movie in the traditional sense, it's a horror OF a move in every sense.I did mention this contains spoilers, but viewers' appetites don't count here No, really, I remember so little of this except for three scenes which I thought were just hilarious: 1- Melanie, played by the never-to-be-Oscar-winning Juliette Lewis (who I understand was a much worse mental case than Debra Winger), spouts off at Aurora (during a fight the two have about her latest boyfriend) "I love him - I HATE YOU!" 2- The fact that Tommy's been in prison all this time and LIVED TO BE RELEASED! If he acted the way he acted in the first film, he'd have been Bruno's special friend in the pokey, not to mention deserving the death penalty for being such a....such a....AAAHH I can't even find the right adjective. Oh, he was just a pig.3- Aurora's stroke while sitting at the piano with some kid. I needn't add anything else to it. 'Nuff said! James L. Brooks was NOT associated with this. Larry Mc Murtry's actual follow-up novel was NOT the basis for this. Lisa Hart Carroll was NOT Patsy. Yes, the great Miranda Richardson was NOT so great in this.Bill Paxton (wherever HE is these days - Twister II, anyone?) was okay in this, and it's always nice to see Jack, but it wasn't long enough. Now that I think of it, Paxton resembles Jack a little. Maybe there was a missing subplot about him being Garrett's and Aurora's son who was put away in an institution because post menopausal ladies usually give birth to children with severe birth defects. Paxton's choice in acting in this piece of schlock was truly a defective one and he should be institutionalized. HEY WAIT A MINUTE - MAYBE HE WAS (heh-heh).This sits very prettily on the perch of the four very worst sequels ever made: EXORCIST II: THE HERETIC - Blatty didn't write - Friedkin didn't direct. Blair didn't act. Yeah, she's in it, but she still doesn't act.ARTHUR II ON THE ROCKS - Come on, guys! Romantic fantasies are supposed to have the couple living happily ever after. An amusing fairy tale was turned into a soap opera by an individual in his/her first week of literacy classes in hopes of obtaining a GED.STAYING ALIVE - As could be said in Johnny Dangerously, I saw this ONCE! Sequel to Saturday Night Fever - fevers usually make you feel sick and can sometimes kill you, even robbing you of your powers of either sight, hearing, or speech, as in the case of Helen Keller.YEP - this'll do it!