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Terms of Endearment

Can a movie make us think about life? Can a movie have anything to teach us about living life? One can pose these questions in relation to this movie. That already shows how much this movie has accomplished.


The movie stars Jack Nicholson as a retired bachelor much attracted to and interested in the opposite sex. It so happens that the character is that of a retired astronaut. Is that so far fetched? I don't know. In terms of physical appearance, there's nothing unusual about Jack that would somehow disqualify him from playing the part of an astronaut.


In fact, Jack takes quite a resemblance to one of the crew members of STS-134, the mission that is currently in space, the boyish looking Michael Fincke. Apart from this, I also think that there's some resemblance between Jack and the legendary Bob Crippen of STS-01.


Then there's Shirley MacLaine. An aging woman who's over-protective of her daughter and suspicious of the world at large, grown somewhat bitter with life with the passing of the years. Basically, she could be your average old lady.


The beautiful Debra Winger is a small town girl with typical family ambitions: get married and start a family. he world may have changed a lot now a days and those sort of ambitions to be a housewife might appear quaint in today's world, but it makes perfect sense in its own frame of reference. And like many impressionable young women, Debra falls in love with a handsome young English teacher who's good with words ... and ladies too. But it turns out that the teacher enjoys the perks of working at a co-ed. Surprise surprise!


Life moves on. Babies come along and romances bloom: some likely and some less likely.


Then the unexpected happens. Life turns upside down all of a sudden for these four people whose lives are so intertwined. And crises bring out our true character. The people who truly care ant to stand by you in a time of crisis. The opportunists soon go away.


The movie ends with the ending of a human life and the beginnings of other relationships. People move on. Always. Life moves on.


So this movie is quite like life. Remarkable and touching.



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