The Evening Star (1996)

everything you have heard about this movie is true.

Fanciful, disturbing, and wildly original, it announces the arrival of a fresh, bold voice in American cinema.

All that we are seeing on the screen is happening with real people, real action sequences in the background, forcing the eye to watch as if we were there.

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

"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.

Now when this movie first came out, no one really saw it. Critics gave it bad reviews. Part of the issue was the original Terms of Endearment was made back in 1983. So when some of the cast came back 13 years later, it can lose some of its box office draw. However, the time that passed actually made this movie more believable as the characters had also aged. Shirley MacLaine reprises her role and does a nice job, trying to raise her dead daughter's children. The movie stays grounded by dealing with everyday issues as well as getting older and the trials of a non-traditional family. Paxton plays a nice role in this film adding a little flare to the shadowing plot of Shirley MacLaine's character getting older. Nicholson's return, although brief, helped this film round itself out. See this one only if you see Terms of Endearment first.Best Scene: Nicholson and MacLaine re-living the past on the beach.

This movie had two major problems to contend with: being a sequel and being an adaptation, and the two problems were very related. First of all, "Terms of Endearment" the novel and "Terms of Endearment" the movie have huge differences. (Garrett Breedlove isn't even in the book and Rosie was married with several children.) What I think is great about "The Evening Star" is that it tries to hold true to the book and the first movie. Perhaps most importantly, it shows how important Hector and Rosie were in Aurora's life. As a fan of both the books and the first movie, I was happy to see how well this movie brought them all together. It's one of my favorites.

Ok, I knew it was going to be no "Terms Of Endearment". I remember this movie got panned when it came out, I read what reviewers here said about it, so I wasn't expecting much. But 6 years after "The Evening Star"'s release, my curiosity got the best of me, besides I got it for free from the library.This is a horrible movie, with horrible characters, and horrible acting.It is so bad, I don't know if I'll be able to watch "Terms Of Endearment" again, and that is one of my all time favorite movies. The only redeeming feature this movie had was the music from the original.I had very low expectations, but this movie still missed them by a mile. Do yourself a favor, if "Terms Of Endearment" meant anything to you, don't see this sequel.