Terms of Endearment

Name: Terms of Endearment
Genre: Drama, Comedy, Romance
Released: November 23, 1983
Duration: 132 min
Rating: 79
Cast: Debra Winger, Jack Nicholson, Shirley MacLaine

1983

METASCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 11 Critic Reviews

See All

USER SCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 60 Ratings

See All

7.5

VOTE NOW

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

7.5	Your Score
7.5	User Score Generally favorable reviews based on 60 Ratings

Would you like to write a review?

There is a 75 character minimum for reviews. If your review contains spoilers, please check the Spoiler box. Please do not use ALL CAPS. There is no linking or other HTML allowed. Your review may be edited for content. 0/5000

Check box if your review contains spoilers

Play Sound

Please enter your birth date to watch this video:

You are not allowed to view this material at this time.

Terms Of Endearment

Now Playing: Terms Of Endearment

Movie Details & Credits

Paramount Pictures | Release Date: November 23, 1983 | PG

Starring: Debra Winger, Jack Nicholson, Shirley MacLaine

Summary: Following the mother-daughter relationship of Aurora Greenway (MacLaine) who doesn't like it when her daughter Emma (Winger) marries Flap (Daniels).

Director: James L. Brooks

Genre(s): Drama, Comedy, Romance

Rating: PG

Runtime: 132 min

See All Details and Credits

Watch Now

Stream On

Buy on

Stream On

Expand

Metascore

Positive:

Mixed:

Negative:

Critic Reviews

100

Richard Schickel

No film since Preston Sturges was a pup has so shrewdly appreciated the way the eccentric plays hide-and-seek with the respectable in the ordinary American landscape; no comedy since Annie Hall or Manhattan has so intelligently observed not just the way people live now but what's going on in the back of their minds; and finally, and in full knowledge that one may be doing the marketing department's job for them, it is the best movie of the year. Read full review

100

Jay Scott

Terms of Endearment is the rare commercial picture that sets audiences to laughing hysterically and crying unashamedly, sometimes within consecutive seconds, and then shoos them out of the theatre in contented emotional exhaustion. [23 Nov 1983]

100

Roger Ebert

This is a wonderful film. There isn't a thing that I would change. Read full review

Josh Larsen

The structure doesn’t work and the characters feel like screenplay concoctions (despite being drawn from a Larry McMurtry novel), but that hardly matters considering the three performances at the center of Terms of Endearment. Read full review

Empire Staff (Not Credited)

James L. Brooks's clever and witty cry-a-long which has as many guys pretending not to cry, as women unashamedly sobbing. Read full review

Janet Maslin

Terms of Endearment is a funny, touching, beautifully acted film that covers more territory than it can easily manage. Read full review

Dave Kehr

The dual-track plot, with constant cutting between mother and daughter, seems less an attempt to establish meaningful parallels between the two stories than the nervous twitches of a compulsive channel changer. Read full review

SEE ALL 11 REVIEWS

Write a Review

User Reviews

ErickFernandes

Aug 16, 2013

It's beautiful. It's real. A kind of situation that happens all the time with many people. Shirley and Debra are perfect together. Nicholson is brilliant as usual. Anyway, a beautiful story with the perfect soundtrack.

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

JP32

Dec 7, 2021

This thing culminates with an emotional thunderbolt. One we see coming, but convince ourselves every step of the way can’t possibly come to pass until it inevitably does. In other words, a lot like real life.

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

Trev29

Nov 30, 2012

This is such a fine piece of art. The dialogue and the relationship between the characters is so special. Such a warm hearted and incredibly funny entertaining movie at times. It is a roller coaster ride of emotions. The acting is about as good as acting can get. Terrific performances.

1 of 1 users found this helpful10

jools123

Aug 4, 2014

This movie won multiple academy awards and nominations. This movie is moving, funny, sad, heart warming, and critically acclaimed. Shirley McClain gives a great performance and so do the others (Jack Nicholson, Debra Winger, Jeff Daniels), it also has great writing and a great story.

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

DawdlingPoet

Nov 24, 2021

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I found this a surprisingly amusing film in parts. I hadn't realised both Jack Nicholson and John Lithgow are in this film and im a fan of both actors. One scene with Nicholsons character, Garett, stood on top of his open top car as it goes from the beach into the sea was a, uh, interesting scene to watch, to say the least!. I'll elaborate no more.

I hadn't considered watching it before, assuming its nothing but a weepy and while there are definitely weepy type moments (sad moments), I don't think it'd be fair to say its a pure 'chick flick' - for one thing, the characters aren't all teenagers or women in their 20s/30s, which is perhaps refreshing to see, even though it dates from the 1980s!.

I enjoyed the dialogue at times and I found it an easy and enjoyable watch for the most part - there are some cliched elements to the film but its not as bad, or moreso boring, as I probably assumed it would be when I was younger. If anything, its (partly) about people learning to realise that things aren't always what they seem.

I would recommend this film to others, yes.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

Broyax

Jan 16, 2017

Préparez les violons, sortez les mouchoirs, ça va chialer dans les chaumières, Tendres Passions est dans la place ! (wesh-wesh-yo-bien-ou-bien-ta-race-batard ?). En vérité, il est un peu injuste de résumer le film à ses épanchements, car les premiers deux tiers (voire plus si affinités) sontPréparez les violons, sortez les mouchoirs, ça va chialer dans les chaumières, Tendres Passions est dans la place ! (wesh-wesh-yo-bien-ou-bien-ta-race-batard ?). En vérité, il est un peu injuste de résumer le film à ses épanchements, car les premiers deux tiers (voire plus si affinités) sont assez drôles et doivent beaucoup au duo MacLaine-Nicholson, un duo qui étincelle à tout crin.

Mais tout de même, ces épanchements susmentionnés, c'est l'avalanche des chutes du Niagara. Evidemment, tout le film, toute l'histoire n'est qu'une préparation pour ce moment précis où mère pondeuse tombe malade et laisse en rade ses trois chiards dont l'aîné, le plus grand, le plus teigneux, le plus con... et le mari peu exemplaire (on en remet une couche, c'est mieux).

Il y a cette idolâtrie de la "mère-courage" que ne renieraient pas les Amiches, la mère dévouée à sa marmaille et en butte à sa propre mère autoritaire et possessive (une autre couche, radine pas, putain). Au fait, ai-je dit que Debra Winger est fantastique ? non, je ne l'ai pas dit, alors je le dis : Debra Winger est fantastique.

Donc le film n'est pas mauvais : le rire puis les larmes... mais j'ai toujours cette impression, une impression désagréable, celle d'un excès de comédie et d'un trop-plein de pathos... ah oui : trop de couches décidément.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

CalibMcBolts

May 30, 2016

Okay, Terms of Endearment won all of the noticeable Oscars for 1983, and since most people will be checking this movie out/ criticising it based on the amount of oscars it won, so will I.

Best Picture - I personally dont think this movie deserved to win Best Picture of the year, i dontOkay, Terms of Endearment won all of the noticeable Oscars for 1983, and since most people will be checking this movie out/ criticising it based on the amount of oscars it won, so will I.

Best Picture - I personally dont think this movie deserved to win Best Picture of the year, i dont know what other notable works has been nominated in 1983, but i did not think Terms of Endearment is at all a cinematic achievement, like most Best Picture winners tend to be. Terms of Endearment is entertaining but that's all it is, it isn't bravura filmmaking, it isnt showing us things we haven't ever seen before, it's basically a formula chick flick, only better than the usual garbage that is being produced these last couple of years.
Best Screenplay - Here is where the movie's main faults come in, the Screenplay is very bland and uninvolved, the screenplay is neither funny nor emotionally evocative, the characters arent interesting, nor do you feel compassion for them. Except Jack Nicholson's character, who is a clear stand out with a good performance playing a delightful character, the rest of the characters are all pretty much uninteresting, and you dont feel anything for them. The reason for that is the constant jumping forward in time, something like that could make simple story (which Terms for Endearment is) more captivating and interesting to watch, but how it is done here results in the audience being unable to fully connect with the characters, and it skips forward just when it gets interesting and when you want to see more. (Especially in the beginning of the film) Also, the ending was very predictable, the screenwriter wanted to make this film an emotional adventure so he chose the easy way out to just have a main character die in the end, which i was expecting since the story wasn't going anywhere half where through. and there is another problem, a movie like this (a movie that doesnt really have a story/ a structured beginning and end) must be really captivating to work. (structureless/episodic films) Movies like this are difficult to make and succeed at, but it is possible, take La Dolce Vita for instance, that movie doesnt really have a firm story, it doesnt have a perfect beginning, middle and end, but it works because the rest is soo perfect. Unlike La Dolce Vita, Terms of Endearment has no solid clue what it's about, it's just a section of the lives of some people...
Best Director - Best Picture and Best Director usually go hand-in-hand for me, i personally thought legend filmmaker Ingmar Bergman should've won Best Director for Fanny Och Alexander.
Best Actress, Shirley MacLaine - The character she plays is one-note, she doesnt have a character arc, she doesnt change behavior (at least not that much) which makes her an interesting character to look at. The way she's played by MacLaine really isnt all that great either, in emotional parts she seems vastly mediocre, in more eccentric parts of the film she gives a hammy performance, that comes close to overacting. She was fine, but not all that great, she should've won for The Apartment, where she was much more delightful.
Best Actor, Jack Nicholson - Not his best performance but certainly something different, he plays a normal guy, but still shows what Nicholson does best, being sarcastic and funny. His character certainly is a secondary character, he doesnt have much screen time, MacLaine, Daniels and Winger certainly have the most screen time, but whenever Jack is on screen he is, as always, a delight to look at. My favorite scenes from this film are all with Jack on screen.

All in all, Terms of Endearment is certainly an above-average chick flick, and a good/entertaining watch for family/ loved ones, but the amount of Oscars it undeservedly won is ridiculous.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

SEE ALL 10 REVIEWS