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Terms of Endearment
User Score
8.0 out of 10

Generally favorable reviews- based on 8 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 7 out of 8
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 8
  3. Negative: 0 out of 8

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  1. Spielberg00
    Nov 14, 2011
    6
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Bottom Line: Fairly decent, but don’t let yourself be deceived by the Best Picture Oscar. Soap opera saga of a feature film is like baking honey into a pie: it’s deliciously sweet, but it’s not what we’re at all used to. When I turned on TERMS OF ENDEARMENT, I was full-out ready to hate it. But by the end, my decision was that I had enjoyed it well enough, but it did NOT deserve a Best Picture Oscar. Lots of this was funny, and some of it, tear-sucking. (There are many better romance/comedy/drama hybrids out there, to say the least.) Jack Nicholson’s role stands high above those of all other cast members in this film. When he is first introduced, we are reminded of his “…bash your brains in!” scene from THE SHINING; but then we figure out he is playing Jekyll & Hyde on us: he is a lovable human being, and just as much as everyone else in the film. In my humble opinion, this winning the Best Picture Oscar was up there on the disappointments lists, somewhere around when THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION and THE COLOR PURPLE did not win Best Picture. Sure, it’s decent, but it’s certainly not the expected material. Don’t be deceived by how overrated TERMS OF ENDEARMENT is.… Expand
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Critic Reviews

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Metascore
79 out of 100

Generally favorable reviews - based on 10 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 8 out of 10
  2. Mixed: 2 out of 10
  3. Negative: 0 out of 10
  1. Chicago Reader
    Reviewed by: Dave Kehr
    40
    The dual-track plot, with constant cutting between mother and daughter, seems less an attempt to establish meaningful parallels between the two stories than the nervous twitches of a compulsive channel changer.
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  2. Chicago Sun-Times
    Reviewed by: Roger Ebert
    100
    This is a wonderful film. There isn't a thing that I would change.
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  3. Christian Science Monitor
    Reviewed by: David Sterritt
    50
    There's not enough substance to support the sentiment of this longish comedy-drama.
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