Jahre der Zärtlichkeit (1996)

Jahre der Zärtlichkeit: Directed by Robert Harling. With Shirley MacLaine, Bill Paxton, Juliette Lewis, Miranda Richardson. Continuing the story of Aurora Greenway in her latter years. After the death of her daughter, Aurora struggled to keep her family together, but has one grandson in jail, a rebellious granddaughter, and another grandson living just above the poverty line.

“Evening Star is a pointless return to the tragi-comic life of Aurora Greenway, heroine of the vastly-superior u0026quot;Terms of Endearment.u0026quot; Sequel lacks the smartly realistic writing of the original, and is full of hokey lines such as u0026quot;I remember hugs… mom was big on hugs,u0026quot; in a failed attempt to channel some of the rich characterization of the original. Much of the acting is quite good – MacLaine is, as usual, eminently watchable, Juliette Lewis does another of her typically strong turns, and never has Marion Ross been given a better opportunity to demonstrate her surprising range. Still, credible acting and an 11th hour appearance of (an embarrassed-looking) Jack Nicholson can only do so much for this contrived mess, and one cannot help but wonder why they couldnu0026#39;t leave well enough alone.”