Marvin's Room

Day 198 - 7/17/09 - Movie #198

BEFORE: De Niro and DiCaprio again, this time with Meryl Streep and Diane Keaton also in the mix...

THE PLOT: A leukemia patient attempts to end a 20-year feud with her sister to get her bone marrow.

AFTER: Boy, DiCaprio really had a lock on those juvenile delinquent roles in the 1990's. Diane Keaton plays Bessie, the "good sister" who had put her life on hold to take care of her senile father, and Streep plays Lee, the hairdresser who smokes and can't control her older son, and hasn't spoken to her sister in 20 years. It seems a little overly simplistic, but gets made more complicated when Bessie develops leukemia, and contacts her sister for help.

It's OK as plots go, but there's zero resolution - a bit like someone forgot to finish the movie and left it 2/3 done.

RATING: 5 out of 10 medicine bottles

DENIR-O-METER: 4 - De Niro plays it straight as a nice-enough, simple doctor. He didn't really shine, but didn't offend either.