August: Osage County
Weinstein Company, The | Release Date: December 25, 2013 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
58
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 45 Critic Reviews
Positive:
24
Mixed:
20
Negative:
1
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
91
Portland OregonianJamie S. RichJan 9, 2014
August: Osage County goes to some heavy places, upturning long-buried resentments and secrets. It can be a lot to take at times, but Letts’ knack for dark humor, and Streep’s flawless delivery of the same, allows for levity when the tale is at its most bleak. Read full review
90
VarietyScott FoundasSep 13, 2013
This two-ton prestige pic won’t win the hearts of highbrow critics or those averse to door-slamming, plate-smashing, top-of-the-lungs histrionics, but as a faithful filmed record of Letts’ play, one could have scarcely hoped for better. Read full review
88
St. Louis Post-DispatchJoe WilliamsJan 9, 2014
For those who appreciate fiery dialogue delivered by fine actors, August: Osage County is heaven-sent. Read full review
83
Tampa Bay TimesSteve PersallJan 9, 2014
There's a pervasive cruelty, a condescension toward common folks like the Westons that's frequently off-putting, even as we're laughing. Read full review
80
Total FilmNeil SmithJan 14, 2014
This classy adap of a much-garlanded stage play will appeal to discerning audiences who can tolerate unpleasant characters with potty mouths if they're played by Oscar winners. Read full review
80
Wall Street JournalJoe MorgensternDec 28, 2013
Family dysfunction has seldom been as flamboyant—or notable for its performances and flow of language—as it is in this screen version of the Tracy Letts play. Read full review
80
The TelegraphTim RobeySep 13, 2013
A vastly enjoyable theatrical banquet, if perhaps not a profound one, is served up in a bit of a rush here, as if they can't wait to get the next sitting in. But you certainly don't come away feeling hungry. Read full review
78
Austin ChronicleMarjorie BaumgartenJan 8, 2014
August: Osage County is not for the timid or those who prefer family reunions without histrionics. This film is like a long day’s journey into another damn day. Read full review
75
ReelViewsJames BerardinelliJan 13, 2014
August: Osage County is all about the acting. That makes sense because the storyline doesn't offer much that could be considered new or remarkable. Read full review
75
Boston GlobeTy BurrJan 9, 2014
So, no, August: Osage County isn’t all that original, and sometimes it’s just a lot of yelling. But it does rouse itself to a powerful fury every so often, and Letts knows an audience’s dirty little secret: We love the bloodlust of a family feeding on itself. Read full review
75
Miami HeraldConnie OgleJan 9, 2014
August: Osage County is easier to watch on screen, and maybe for that we should be grateful. Read full review
75
RogerEbert.comSusan WloszczynaDec 28, 2013
If the boozy epic confrontations of "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" or "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" are your definition of a good time, then this is the place to be. Read full review
75
Christian Science MonitorPeter RainerDec 25, 2013
Streep’s performance has been criticized for being too theatrical, but that’s off the mark: The character she’s playing is supposed to be theatrical. She’s a woman playing a part – the ravaged matriarch. Read full review
75
Entertainment WeeklyOwen GleibermanDec 24, 2013
The movie is red meat for anyone who thrives on a certain brand of punchy, in-your-face emotional shock value. Yet the pull of what happens on screen came, for me, with a major qualification: I went with it, but I didn't totally buy it. The film is a contraption that spreads its darkness like whipped butter on a roll. Read full review
75
ObserverRex ReedDec 17, 2013
The brilliant screenplay by Mr. Letts sets up the narrative story of the Weston clan in a carefully constructed series of episodes in which the family history is finally revealed. There’s great acting in every frame, but by the end of the ordeal, the viewer may be too exhausted to care. Read full review
75
IndieWireEric KohnSep 13, 2013
A distinctly uneven but imminently watchable theatrical showcase in which cinematic and stagy devices go head to head with no clear winner. Read full review
70
The Hollywood ReporterDavid RooneySep 13, 2013
Wells directs the actors smoothly enough in individual scenes, but his work lacks the cohesiveness to really pull all the characters together and convey their shared past. Read full review
70
TimeRichard CorlissSep 13, 2013
It’s Roberts’ deepest, strongest, liveliest film work. Read full review
63
Philadelphia InquirerSteven ReaJan 10, 2014
August: Osage County is the movie equivalent of Denny's Lumberjack Slam breakfast. If eggs, bacon, and toast aren't enough, throw in some ham, some sausage, pancakes, and hash browns. And then throw in more ham. Read full review
63
Washington PostMichael O'SullivanJan 9, 2014
The film feels claustrophobic at times, and stagy. It helps that the supporting cast is uniformly good. Read full review
63
Rolling StonePeter TraversDec 28, 2013
The acting styles of Streep and Roberts, both Golden Globe nominees, don’t exactly mesh, but they’re a hoot. Read full review
63
McClatchy-Tribune News ServiceRoger MooreDec 24, 2013
Osage County does offer up one almost-heartbreaking moment. But it’s so icky that, like the rest of the film, you kind of want to wash it out of your mouth — with supermarket Merlot — rather than savor it. Read full review
63
New York PostLou LumenickDec 19, 2013
There is still enough venom spilled in August: Osage County to make this drama relatable to anyone who’s suffered through a wildly dysfunctional family dinner — and who hasn’t, especially at this time of year? Read full review
63
Slant MagazineDavid Lee DallasDec 18, 2013
What works about the film can largely be attributed to the original text, which is full of cruel twists and savage blows that Tracy Letts wisely retains for the screen. Read full review
60
Time Out LondonTom HuddlestonJan 21, 2014
If you enjoy improbable plot twists, overcooked dialogue and Hollywood legends champing on scenery, this adaptation is a highly entertaining slice of American Gothic. Read full review
60
EmpireIan FreerJan 20, 2014
It takes a while to get going and never outstrips its theatrical origins but gets by on great actors working through meaty scenes. See it for Streep vs Redford alone. Read full review
60
New Orleans Times-PicayuneMike ScottJan 10, 2014
Not, in other words, a happy story. It is not a story of redemption or healing or finding happiness amid the despair. It is about reaping what one sows. But, damn, those performances. Damn, that dialog. Damn, that's good stuff. Read full review
60
New York Daily NewsElizabeth WeitzmanDec 28, 2013
If you embrace the overkill, you’ll enjoy it. But if extravagance isn’t your thing, move swiftly on to something lighter and more digestible. Read full review
60
Village VoiceStephanie ZacharekDec 24, 2013
August: Osage County, however, bitterly funny in some places and numbingly earnest in others, is just too much Streep. But all is not lost. Some of her fellow actors are resourceful enough to reconstruct themselves after being obliterated. Read full review
60
Time OutKeith UhlichDec 18, 2013
What ran more than three hours onstage now barely cracks two, and the cutting can be felt in the way the often gut-busting bad behavior is privileged over psychological credibility. Read full review
58
The A.V. ClubBen KenigsbergDec 24, 2013
It’s not so much a mangled movie as it is an unfulfilled, forgettable one: unnecessary for anyone who’s seen the play, yet sufficiently watered-down that newcomers won’t be able to tell what all the fuss was about. Read full review
50
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Liam LaceyJan 9, 2014
Although a couple of performances here may earn Oscar nominations, by the time you’ve sat through the wreckage, you’re left with the sense that this really must have worked better onstage. Read full review
50
Arizona RepublicBill GoodykoontzJan 9, 2014
August: Osage County is at times affecting (Cooper’s tender moment with Cumberbatch, who has slept through an important event, is especially so), but mostly it’s all about actors acting and never letting us forget they’re doing so. Read full review
50
Chicago Sun-TimesRichard RoeperJan 9, 2014
A sometimes wickedly funny but ultimately sour, loud, draining tale of one of the most dysfunctional families in modern American drama. And that’s saying a lot. Read full review
50
Chicago TribuneMichael PhillipsJan 9, 2014
See the play sometime. It cooks; the movie's more of a microwave reheat. Read full review
50
New York Magazine (Vulture)David EdelsteinDec 24, 2013
In the all-star movie adaptation of August: Osage County, another play that holds the stage with fang and claw feels less momentous onscreen. Read full review
48
Film.comLaremy LegelSep 13, 2013
What’s truly unnerving about the whole thing is how good certain scenes are, and how great a few of the performances come off, especially Julia Roberts and Meryl Streep – they’re doing amazing work, only it’s the equivalent of building a lovely home on a foundation of quicksand. Read full review
42
The PlaylistKevin JagernauthSep 13, 2013
August: Osage County is a film of big, wild gestures, plate smashing, screaming and tears, but not nuance, and it all has the effect of leaving one deadened, not moved. Read full review
40
The New YorkerDavid DenbyJan 6, 2014
As you watch, you don't think of the decline of American civilization; you think that these are good actors giving themselves a hell of a workout in a misbegotten movie. [6 Jan. 2014, p.72]
40
SlateDana StevensDec 28, 2013
August: Osage County is a mess, an overcooked movie-star stew that never quite coheres into a movie. Read full review
40
The New York TimesA.O. ScottDec 26, 2013
August: Osage County falls into an uncanny valley between melodrama and camp, failing to achieve either heights of operatic feeling or flights of knowing parody. The jokes are too labored, too serious. Read full review
40
Los Angeles TimesKenneth TuranDec 26, 2013
Despite the story's melodramatic contrivances the creation of characters we actually care about is beyond this film's capabilities. Read full review
40
The DissolveTasha RobinsonDec 22, 2013
The cast is too big, the setting too obviously stagey, the issues too diffuse, the personalities too simple. Read full review
40
The GuardianCatherine ShoardSep 13, 2013
It's bracing, but it does feel closer to panto than melodrama, more exhausting than illuminating. Read full review
25
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalleJan 9, 2014
August: Osage County was a three-hour play that felt like two hours. It has been made into a two-hour movie that feels like a month. Read full review
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