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Ordinary People
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==Reception== ===Box office=== The film was a box-office success, grossing $54.8 million in the United States and Canada<ref name=mojo>{{mojo title|ordinarypeople|Ordinary People}}</ref> and approximately $36 million overseas<ref>{{cite magazine|magazine=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]|date=April 29, 1981|title=CIC Sights a $235-Mil Global Windfall|last=Watkins|first=Roger|page=3}}</ref> for a worldwide gross of $90 million. ===Critical reception=== ''Ordinary People'' received critical acclaim. On [[Rotten Tomatoes]], the film has an approval rating of 90%, based on 105 reviews, with an average rating of 8.50/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Robert Redford proves himself a filmmaker of uncommon [[emotional intelligence]] with ''Ordinary People'', an auspicious debut that deftly observes the fractioning of a family unit through a quartet of superb performances."<ref name="RT">{{cite web |url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/ordinary_people/ |title=Ordinary People (1980) |website=[[Rotten Tomatoes]] |publisher=[[Fandango Media]] |access-date=15 October 2024 |archive-date=2019-05-23 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190523143905/https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/ordinary_people/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Audiences polled by [[CinemaScore]] gave the film a rare average grade of "A+" on an A+ to F scale.<ref name="1980Scores">{{Cite news|date=January 30, 1981|title=CinemaScore|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=vDkpAAAAIBAJ&sjid=VoMDAAAAIBAJ&pg=1884%2C8022868|access-date=April 11, 2025|work=[[Deseret News]]|location=[[Salt Lake City]]|page=2C}}</ref> [[Roger Ebert]] gave it a full four stars and praised how the film's setting "is seen with an understated matter-of-factness. There are no cheap shots against suburban lifestyles or affluence or mannerisms: The problems of the people in this movie aren't caused by their milieu, but grow out of themselves. ... That's what sets the film apart from the sophisticated suburban soap opera it could easily have become."<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/ordinary-people-1980|title=Ordinary People review|newspaper=[[Chicago Sun-Times]]|last=Ebert|first=Roger|author-link=Roger Ebert|date=1 January 1980|access-date=2 September 2020|archive-date=2020-09-03|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200903004940/https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/ordinary-people-1980|url-status=live}}</ref> He later named it the fifth best film of the year 1980; while colleague [[Gene Siskel]] ranked it the second best film of 1980.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://innermind.com/misc/s_e_top.htm#SE1980|website=innermind.com|title=Siskel and Ebert Top Ten Lists (1969β1998)|access-date=16 October 2018|archive-date=2018-07-27|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180727230144/http://www.innermind.com/misc/s_e_top.htm#SE1980|url-status=live}}</ref> Writing for ''[[The New York Times]],'' [[Vincent Canby]] called it "a moving, intelligent and funny film about disasters that are commonplace to everyone except the people who experience them."<ref>{{cite news |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |first=Vincent |last=Canby |title=Redford's Ordinary People |url=https://www.nytimes.com/packages/html/movies/bestpictures/people-re.html |date=19 September 1980 |access-date=16 October 2018 |archive-date=2017-12-12 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171212082208/http://www.nytimes.com/packages/html/movies/bestpictures/people-re.html |url-status=live }}</ref> The film marked a career breakout for Mary Tyler Moore from the personalities of her other two famous roles: Laura Petrie on ''[[The Dick Van Dyke Show]]'' and Mary Richards on ''[[The Mary Tyler Moore Show]]''. Moore's nuanced portrayal of the mother to Hutton's character was highly acclaimed, and earned her a [[Academy Award for Best Actress|Best Actress]] nomination.<ref name=Siegel/> Donald Sutherland's performance as the father was also well received and earned him a Golden Globe nomination. Despite his co-stars receiving nominations, Sutherland was overlooked for an Academy Award, which ''[[Entertainment Weekly]]'' has described as one of the biggest acting snubs in the history of the awards.<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://ew.com/gallery/25-biggest-oscar-snubs-all-time/?slide=320129#320129 |title=25 Biggest Oscar Snubs Ever: Donald Sutherland, Ordinary People |magazine=[[Entertainment Weekly]] |date=March 1, 2016 |access-date=15 March 2023 |archive-date=2015-06-22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150622170457/http://www.ew.com/gallery/25-biggest-oscar-snubs-ever/394280_donald-sutherland-maryljpg |url-status=live}}</ref> Judd Hirsch's portrayal of Dr. Berger was a departure from his work on the sitcom ''[[Taxi (TV series)|Taxi]]'', and drew praise from many in the psychiatric community as one of the rare times their profession is shown in a positive light in film.<ref name="psychiatrist">{{cite news|last=Martin|first=Linda B.|date=25 January 1981|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1981/01/25/movies/the-psychiatrist-in-today-s-movies-he-s-everywhere-and-in-deep-trouble.html|title=The Psychiatrist in Today's Movies: He's Everywhere and He's in Deep Trouble|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|access-date=13 September 2006|archive-date=2007-12-14|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071214023608/http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?sec=health&res=9901EFD8153BF936A15752C0A967948260|url-status=live}}</ref> Hirsch was also nominated for Best Supporting Actor, losing out to co-star Hutton. Additionally, ''Ordinary People'' launched the career of [[Elizabeth McGovern]] who played Hutton's character's love interest, and who received special permission to film while attending [[Juilliard]]. The film's prominent usage of [[Pachelbel's Canon|Pachelbel's ''Canon'']], which had been relatively obscure for centuries, helped to usher the piece into mainstream popular culture.<ref name="prisoners">{{cite journal |title=Prisoners of Pachelbel: An Essay in Post-Canonic Musicology |url=https://www.academia.edu/581670 |first=Robert |last=Fink |date=2010 |journal=Hamburg Jahrbuch |access-date=2020-01-28 |archive-date=2021-04-30 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210430232337/https://www.academia.edu/581670/Prisoners_of_Pachelbel |url-status=live }}</ref> ===Analysis=== Julia L. Hall, a journalist who has written extensively about [[narcissistic personality disorder]], wrote in 2017 upon Moore's death that she "portrays her character's narcissism to a tee in turn after turn."<ref name=Hall/> She praised Moore for taking such a career risk so soon after having played such a memorable and likable character on television, "scaffolding gaping emptiness with a persona of perfection, supported by denial, blame, rejection, and rage."<ref name=Hall>{{cite web|last=Hall|first=Julie L.|title=Remembering Mary Tyler Moore as the Chilling Narcissist Mother in 'Ordinary People'|url=https://narcissistfamilyfiles.com/2017/02/11/remembering-mary-tyler-moore-chilling-narcissist-mother-ordinary-people/|website=The Narcissist Family Files|date=February 11, 2017|access-date=October 6, 2021|archive-date=October 6, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211006053121/https://narcissistfamilyfiles.com/2017/02/11/remembering-mary-tyler-moore-chilling-narcissist-mother-ordinary-people/|url-status=live}}</ref>
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