The Datalounge "Olive Kitteridge" Viewing Party

Oh my bad, it starts at 9. Guess I can go get a pizza.

OP,did you forget to put your clock back one hour?

Does the Halls squirrel make a cameo in this?

Love McDormand, but this looks dull and plodding.

I am going to catch the midnight viewing of it

I remember being really affected by this book. One of the things I liked most about it was its Sherwood Anderson-esque exploration of small-town kindnesses and as well as social atrocities - with Olive Kitteridge herself always hovering around the edges of stories in which she wasn't necessarily featured.

I'm looking forward to seeing this complicated literary creation brought to life on the screen.

Anyone?

so far it's claustrophobic and creepy

It's exceptional. Possibly the best thing I've seen on television this year.

The actor playing Kevin is gorgeous. Like thd love child of Jim Cavaziel and Jeremy Sisto. Great body too.

Part 2 was like shot out of a freakin cannon.

Poor Henry. Was the wife screwing the other teacher who was in the car wreck?

Denise (the mouse), the guy from the pharmacy she married turned into a jackass.

R10 obviously, that was why she was projecting her guilt onto Henry and his relationship with Denise.

If the son knows how shitty his mother can be, why would he choose to live next door?

I love Francis but she is not easy on the eyes...

The actor playing Kevin is Cory Michael Smith and his chest is lovely.

The car scene in Episode 2 with Frances McDormand and Cory Michael Smith was brilliant - the best performances I've seen on TV or film in many years.

.

Was it better than The Kids Are All Right?

Didn't realize the 2nd part was on tonight, I thought it would be next Sunday. Will have to catch the next viewing at midnight.

I can't remember the last time I watched something and my eyes were moist for two hours straight... Maybe Angels in America. An absolute work of art. Everyone was flawless. The best thing HBO has done since Angels.

Henry was the best character in this.

Boring garbage.

@R14 does everything have to be eye candy? damn

I also lost a depressive shut-in mother to suicide and really resonated with the Kevin character

Cory Michael Smith (Kevin) is in the cast of Gotham, though he doesn't appear in every episode. He's nerded up in that, though (playing a young Riddler).

Parts 1 and especially 2 were both amazing. I was blown away, actually. I had no idea what to expect. The son of the suicidal woman was especially good, both as a child and adult. Wonderful acting from all the kids, actually. Excellent acting across the board. Such nuance. I look forward to seeing the conclusion soon.

Best thing on TV. Amazing.

Anne Dowd was in it, at least she was better in this than The Leftovers.

I think it's a requirement that Miss Dowd appear in every HBO production (this, The Leftovers, True Detective).

I loved Ann Dowd's mid-eighties hairstyle in the first part.

R15 Cory Michael Smith was in the Broadway flop BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY'S from a few years ago. He had a brief full frontal nude scene. He has nothing to be ashamed of....not at all.

R29 she probably has a talent holding deal with HBO which requires them to put her in something.

The scene at the wake when Olive takes Jim's cigarette and they both look at her husband was really a small masterpiece of film making.

Tried... just couldn't get into it.

I could see how it would be hard to get into, especially Part 1. I had read the book a while ago, so I could fill in some of the blanks.

The details in this series are perfect and amazing. It's like a model ship in a bottle kind of perfect. Francis McDormand is physically perfect for this role, and although she's acting her tits off, I don't think I "get" Olive yet from her performance. Her husband is perfection though.

and I LURVE the recurring lounge singer.

What is the link at r15 from? Olive?

Cory Michael Smith looks so different there. He's kind of nerdy on his imdb photos.

Yes, that's from Olive.

That's Cory Michael Smith's character (Kevin) taking a shower after he's jumped into the ocean to save a woman in Part 2 of "Olive Kitteridge."

R22 = mouth-breathing philistine

All four episodes are available on HBO on demand. Just finished ep3 My goodness this movie is brilliant.

Knew nothing about it when I tuned in. Beautiful work from everyone. Richard Jenkins deserves an Emmy for this one. And, the resemblance between young Kevin and older Kevin was pretty amazing.

Amazing.

One of the best things HBO has ever done.

I don't know if it's the *best* HBO miniseries (I also love Angels in America and Mildred Pierce), but it's pretty damn great: beautifully observed, with pitch-perfect acting. I actually thought the only false note in the cast came from Bill Murray, who I didn't believe for a minute as a conservative New England blue blood.

I thought McDormand was epic. It's a tricky role, but she nails all the complexities of this woman who is both heroine and monster. When she tells the Bill Murray character (who disapproves of his daughter's lesbianism) that she wouldn't object at all if her son was gay, I totally believed it. She's judgemental and unpleasant, but she's also weirdly idealistic and high-minded. It's one of the most interesting female characters in movies or TV that I've seen in a long time.

"Ollie" taking one shoe and one earring knocked me out. So bizarre, but it made perfect sense to her. I also loved her picking up the litter from the wedding so it wouldn't blow out on the water.

Richard Jenkins for all the wins. I have a feeling he is going to take anything he is nominated for when award time rolls around. So good.

Ditto for Frances McDormand. A real master class for aspiring actors out there. She is always remarkable.

That little boy was pretty damned good too.

So odd to see the apple peel turn into a green snake and for that kid to see "Ollie" as an elephant and yet not that odd at all. Well done.

For those of you who've read the book, how different was the film/miniseries? Was it pretty faithful or did they take liberties? How close was FM to the physical description of Olive in the book?

Frances McDormand and Cory Michael Smith were brilliant. I'd love to see the two of them win Emmys.

[quote]Frances McDormand and Cory Michael Smith were brilliant. I'd love to see the two of them win Emmys.

Agreed. The car scene and, in fact, all of the scenes with the two of them were outstanding in a series that was start-to-finish extraordinary.

R45 the miniseries is pretty faithful to the novel. They only adapted a few of the stories, but most of the dialogue is the same. The episode where CMS & FM meet is actually combining two stories. The wedding story is a seperate event & i don't believe CMS's character gets invited. Henry's stroke also happens differently in the book. He has it while getting out of the car while in a parking lot. The lounge singer also has her own story, but Olive is barely in it. There were also a few more that weren't included in this at all. I'm sure there are more difference, but I read it years ago.

I think there were a several mentions of Olive gaining weight throughout the book because of her constant eating. I didn't really think she got fatter in the series though. Otherwise, she was pretty much how I remembered her.

I thought all the changes worked perfectly. At least the ones I was aware of.

Thanks R48!

Just finished it. I am pretty blown away by it. I too believe it may be the best mini-series ever. I saw Mildred Pierce and Angels while both were excellent something about Olive was really affecting. I loved it and cried a couple of times, laughed a lot. The last episode was especially funny and sad.

I just watched the whole thing too. While Frances McDormand was great and deserves all the awards she's sure to get, Richard Jenkins may even have been better. I hope he's recognized.

I watched both episodes tonight and I guess I'm in the minority because I just didn't get it.

Comparing it to Angels in America ? No way IMO.

I thought Jenkins gave a really good performance though.

I wanted to understand Olive and why she was such a crotchety old bitch but I never really empathized with her until her husband died.

It was just too plodding and not that good to me.

Richard Jenkins was brilliant. While McDormand was very good there was a relentlessness to her performance/character that wore on me after a couple of episodes. She reminded me of Livia Soprano but unrelieved by the acerbic humor of that character.

[quote]I love Francis but she is not easy on the eyes...

And I love that she gives zero fucks what you or anyone else thinks about her looks.

I just watched the whole thing last night and it just made me so depressed. I love it and will probably watch it again but I see so much of my life now like Olive's. I would hate to die alone and have nothing or no one in my life.

Brilliant work by all. Wonderful novel, too.

I thought Olive's relationship with her son was the saddest part. She was clearly a difficult person to grow up with, emotionally cold, harsh and uncompromising, but she was not without compassion and nowhere near the monster he made her out to be.

I am looking at Corey Michael Smith's bathtub scene from B@T's on another site. He is lovely.

Won't repost because the producers of that show will get the images taken down right away, and don't want to ruin it for the people on that other site.

R55 the ending is tender, beautiful and hopeful. I was moved to tears by it.

I loved this book and thought they did a really good job with this adaptation. McDormand was amazing and really brought out Olive's complexity.

R54 I regret writing that after watching Olive, Frances looked great...

I wondered if the CMS character was lying about college and studying to be a shrink. I have just watched the first half ..

Does the book explain why Olive was such a cunt to everyone especially her doting husband ?

She even seemed nicer to Bill Murray's character and she had just met him.

R62, I think a lot of Olive's vitriol towards Henry was based on the emotional affair that she was carrying on with the John Berryman aficionado (he was the principal of her school, I think?) She wasn't able to be with the man she really wanted so she took out her rage and resentment of that fact on those closest to her. Henry and Christopher were part of the collective fallout of Olive's unrealized (yet still tragically acknowledged) passions in life.

I really enjoyed the throughline of the lounge singer in the series. There was something extremely melancholy about her singing, yet there was an affability and an understanding the character seemed to naturally bring to every scene. I remember her character having a stand-alone chapter in the novel. I'd like to go back and re-read it now.

The deft way that this adaptation was handled really makes me wish that the HBO acquisition of Jennifer Egan's Pulitzer Prize-winning "A Visit from the Goon Squad" had not been abandoned. That book follows a similar structure to "Olive Kitteridge" in that it's also a series of linked short stories that center around a group of interconnected characters. I can imagine it would make a phenomenal miniseries if the triumph of "Olive Kitteridge" can be used as an example of what's possible.

Angela the lounge singer was the fabulous Martha Wainwright, more-talented sibling of Rufus. Her albums are great.. Thought she was a natural in this.

In the book, the lounge signer is also an alcoholic. Knowing that made her little scenes more poignant.

Binged watched the whole miniseries. Excellent. Haven't read the book - so does the donut at the beginning have any meaning (other than the place were they buy donuts in town).

And what happened to the character that was seeing things? (his mother committed suicide) forget the characters name. Did they explain more in the book?

R57, me too. But I think the suggestion is that there's hope between mother and son, despite all the damage and bitter feelings. When she tells the Bill Murray character that she supposes she has to call them back (upon learning about her grandchild), he says it will be an easy conversation. It was also an interesting detail to learn that the son lied about his wife having the "pukes" just so he could have her come visit. The actor who plays the son is good too. He was in the film Short Term 12, and appeared in Spring Awakening on Broadway (alongside Jonathan Groff and DL fave Lea Michele).

I thought the character of the second wife, Ann, was kind of interesting too. She does seem genuinely nice and well-meaning, but she's also smug in that hippy-dippy way people can be who've had a lot of therapy. Loved the detail of her calling Olive "Mom", like, every other sentence, which is something that character would so obviously hate.

I haven't seen a movie or miniseries in a long time that had characterization as rich and layered as fiction. Even small parts are given weight. I liked the irony of the timid stock boy becoming a smug asshole, so true to life.

That stockboy was Todd on Breaking Bad (Meth Damon)

And wasn't the crazy mom that killed herself, Midge on Mad Men?

Yes, that was Rosemarie DeWitt, also of Rachel Getting Married.

R63, I didn't know HBO shelved "A Visit from the Goon Squad". Granted, I think that book is far more difficult to adapt than "Olive Kitteridge", but I would have trusted them to do a good job. I googled it, and apparently The Sundance Channel picked up the option, and is developing it. I love that book.

It also reminds me of how HBO dropped "The Corrections" after Noah Baumbach actually shot a pilot. According to Deadline, execs were worried that the "challenging narrative", which moved back and forth through time, would be hard to follow. That's odd now, considering "Olive Kitteridge" had the same format.

I also wondered what happened to The Riddler? And Mouse? Why was Ann Dowd cast in a nothing role?

John Gallagher, jr. who played the son, won a Tony Award for SPRING AWAKENING. He is also in the HBO series, THE NEWSROOM which is now in it's final season.

Are we meant to think that the boy who was seeing snakes got together with the donut shop girl and was all better? I felt like something was lost there, but also I was a little overwhelmed by it. I wanted something to watch while I had the day off and ended up watching all of them at once.

It was amazing, though I didn't like the last scene. I think it probably worked better in a book.

You know who else was perfect? Patricia Kalember as the mother in law. It was a great character because I knew she was a bitch but also would have been disgusted by someone eating nuts during a ceremony or cutting a potato during a speech at her son's rehearsal dinner.

Can someone post their thoughts on the scene with Louise Larkin? How much of what happened was a nightmare and how much of it was supposed to be real? I loved the scene but have to be honest, it sort of went over my head.

I agree with R74. I really have no idea what happened in that scene and so I just kind of deleted it from the rest of the movie. I understood why Olive went over there, but then the conversation took such a bizarre turn.

…zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

…and too pretentious.

It's probably a bit too literary for your unsophisticated tastes, R76.

R76 Lost interest when he finally realized that Olive had no super-power to blow things up.

Depressives really liked it, R76 -- just like they went wild over Melancholia.

Wow. Just finished it last night and will definitely go back and watch again. All of it was quite good, but that second episode...particularly the scenes mentioned with Olive & her former student in the car, were as good as it gets.

Now I have to go read the book.

Also: yes, Christopher & his second wife were annoying as hell with their therapy-speak, but it also showed that he had managed to deal with the effects of his mother's illness/depression and was trying, with some success, to break free of his own. (And yet, in the car, when he talked about Theodore, he was SO Olive's son).

I, too, thought Bill Murray was the weak link.

I thought Billy Murray was superb casting... the perfect foil for McDermott's Olive.

[quote]I can't remember the last time I watched something and my eyes were moist for two hours straight.

Mary !!!!

I think Murray was okay but I feel his character was contrived to give Olive a happy ending. A rich Repug would have found a new younger trophy wife in about 2 seconds...

.

I just saw the first two episodes tonight and wow! Richard Jenkins was fantastic (as usual), but the scene in the car with Olive and Kevin was some of the best tv I've seen. I didn't know where that scene was going to go, but my heart broke for him when we saw that he had hallucinations like his mother.

Poor whiskers, though...

I love Bill Murray but I could only think of his character as "Bill Murray interacts with Mainers," while the other actors had so submerged themselves into their characters.

agree R87, Bill Murray was the only one where i said: "oh Bill Murray's in this"

he didn't fit the mood of the series

Does anyone know where I could get an MP3 of Martha Wainwright's stunning cover of "Magic"? My friend and I are obsessed with it. I also really loved the moment in the series when she is singing that in the restaurant.

I agree that it was a bad decision to cast Bill Murray.

This didn't stay with me after I watched it. The acting of Frances McDormand and Richard Jenkins was excellent, but the character of Olive wasn't very interesting to me, especially to invest in for four hours.

So is Olive really a depressive? Or something more complex? Diagnosis?

I'm late to this party because I don't have cable and finally saw it via Netflix DVDs. Everything said here echos my own sentiments. Especially about Richard Jenkins. I love him so much in this, I could cry.