Themes: Eccentric Families, Single Parents, Generation Gap
Main Cast: Shirley MacLaine, Bill Paxton, Juliette Lewis, Miranda Richardson, Ben Johnson
Release Year: 1996
Country: US
Run Time: 128 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG13
Plot
Shirley MacLaine reprises her award-winning performance as Aurora Greenway in this sequel to Terms of Endearment. Fifteen years after the death of her daughter Emma, Aurora is still keeping an eye on her three grandchildren and not having very good luck with it. Tommy (George Newbern) is currently doing time on drug charges; Teddy (MacKenzie Astin) has a job with no future and an ill-mannered child whose mother, Jane (China Kantner), doesn't believe in traditional discipline; and Melanie (Juliette Lewis) is bound and determined to put Aurora through as much grief as Emma did. Aurora has a number of other adversarial relationships to contend with; she often spars with Patsy (Miranda Richardson), a friend of Emma's dead mother, and her housekeeper Rosie (Marion Ross), who is having a tentative late-term romance with the next-door neighbor, Arthur (Ben Johnson). Aurora's own love life is not doing so well. Her affair with The General (Donald Moffat) is on its last legs, she ends up sleeping with her analyst Jerry (Bill Paxton), and she confesses to her former flame Garrett (Jack Nicholson) that she has yet to meet the love of her life. Like Terms of Endearment, The Evening Star was based on a novel by Texas author Larry McMurtry; this was the final film for actor Ben Johnson, who died before it was released and who received an Academy Award and made a major comeback for his work in another film based on a McMurtry novel, The Last Picture Show. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
Richard L. Johnson - Art Director, Jennifer Shull - Casting, Dennis Bishop - Co-producer, Renee Ehrlich Kalfus - Costume Designer, Steve Danton - First Assistant Director, Robert Harling - Director, Priscilla Nedd-Friendly - Editor, David Moritz - Editor, William Ross - Composer (Music Score), William Ross - Songwriter, Bruno Rubeo - Production Designer, Don Burgess - Cinematographer, Robert Harling - Producer, Polly Platt - Producer, David Kirkpatrick - Producer, Keith Samples - Producer, Rick Simpson - Set Designer, Douglas Axtell - Sound/Sound Designer, Robert Harling - Screenwriter
The Evening Star is a 1996sequel to Terms of Endearment, starring Shirley MacLaine, who reprises the role of Aurora Greenway she played in the original film. The movie takes place about fifteen years after the original following the characters from 1988 to 1993. The movie focuses on Aurora's relationship with her three grandchildren, Emma's best friend Patsy and her housekeeper Rosie. Along the way Aurora enters into a relationship with a younger man, and watches the world around her change as old friends pass on and her grandchildren make lives of their own.
Miranda Richardson co-stars in a memorable role as toxic Houston divorcee and Aurora's rival, Patsy Carpenter. Juliette Lewis stars as Aurora's rebellious granddaughter, Melanie Horton, Marion Ross stars as Aurora's housekeeper (Golden Globe nominated in the Best Supporting Actress category), Bill Paxton stars as Aurora's psychiatrist and short-time lover, Donald Moffatt and Ben Johnson also appeared, Jack Nicholson also returns in an extended cameo appearance, playing the role he played in Terms of Endearment, retired astronaut Garrett Breedlove.
Reaction
The film did not see the box-office success that Terms of Endearment did, only grossing $12,767,815 (unadjusted). The film also got mixed to poor reviews from critics. The film did develop a following when it was released on VHS and DVD.
As with Terms of Endearment, the film was originally rated R by the MPAA, but was given a lower rating on appeal: this time a PG-13.
