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Terms of Endearment

Terms of Endearment

Drama · Comedy · 1983

Aurora, a finicky woman, is in search of true love while her daughter faces marital issues. Together, they help each other deal with problems and find reasons to live a joyful life.

Movie details

Terms of Endearment

“Come to laugh, come to cry, come to care, come to terms.”

1983 Drama · Comedy 2h 12m

Critical arithmetic

One number, for now.

TMDB

7.1 / 10

Community rating

Aurora, a finicky woman, is in search of true love while her daughter faces marital issues. Together, they help each other deal with problems and find reasons to live a joyful life.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over Terms of Endearment?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

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Where it lives

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

James L. Brooks

Written by

James L. Brooks

Shirley MacLaine

Shirley MacLaine

Aurora Greenway

Debra Winger

Debra Winger

Emma Greenway Horton

Jack Nicholson

Jack Nicholson

Garrett Breedlove

Danny DeVito

Danny DeVito

Vernon Dahlart

Jeff Daniels

Jeff Daniels

Flap Horton

John Lithgow

John Lithgow

Sam Burns

Lisa Hart Carroll

Lisa Hart Carroll

Patsy Clark

Court is in session

Put Terms of Endearment on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Prestige Tourist

“Sincerity is not manipulation.”

The film risks embarrassment to make emotion communal, and that openness is harder than fashionable detachment.

The prosecution The Popcorn Loyalist

“The strings are showing.”

Every cue tells you exactly what to feel and when, leaving sentiment to do the work character should have done.