Terms of Endearment

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  • Opened November 23, 1983 
  • 2 hr 12 min
  • PG | Moderate Sex References and Infrequent Strong Language
  • Parents: Common Sense Media says Iffy for 13+. More on child suitability

  • Widow Aurora Greenway (Shirley MacLaine) and her daughter, Emma (Debra Winger), have a strong bond, but Emma marries teacher Flap Horton (Jeff Daniels) against her mother's wishes. When the marriage grows sour due to Flap's cheating, Emma eventually splits from him, returning to her mother, who is involved with a former astronaut (Jack Nicholson). Soon, Emma learns that she has terminal cancer. In the hospital, supported by Aurora, she tries to make peace with Flap and her children. Full synopsis

  • Cast: Debra Winger, Shirley MacLaine, Jack Nicholson, Jeff Daniels, John Lithgow
  • Director: James L. Brooks
  • Genres: Comedy Drama, Tragi-comedy, Family Drama

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Fans say Go
4 fans
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Critics say Go
79 out of 100
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Fan Reviews

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my review of Terms of Endearment

by jwelch5742

This film was wonderful. this had great script and wonderful performances for Jack Nicholson and Shirley MacLaine...

Must Go!
Go see it yourself.

by

Go see it yourself....

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Critic Reviews

100
Boston Globe
| Jay Carr

It rates a resounding yes because it doesn't insult our emotional intelligence. [23 Nov 1983] Read full review

100
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)
| 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] Read full review

100
Time
| 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
Chicago Sun-Times
| Roger Ebert

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

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