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Marvin's Room

Play trailer Poster for Marvin's Room PG-13 1996 1h 38m Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
83% Tomatometer 48 Reviews 63% Popcornmeter 10,000+ Ratings
Bessie and Lee are sisters who have remained apart for nearly 20 years due to radically different personalities and life paths. Bessie remained in Florida to care for their ill, bedridden father, and Lee moved to Ohio to marry and have a family. But Bessie's doctor has informed her she has leukemia and needs a bone marrow transplant. Bessie's prognosis and Lee's troubled son create an unexpected family reunion.

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Marvin's Room

Marvin's Room

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Critics Consensus

Marvin's Room rises above the pack of dysfunctional family dramas thanks to an impeccable cast that includes Meryl Streep, Diane Keaton, and Leonardo DiCaprio.

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Critics Reviews

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David Ansen Newsweek 03/02/2018
Zaks knows enough not to get in the way of his three superb stars, who put on a display of emotional fireworks that is lovely to behold. Go to Full Review Lisa Alspector Chicago Reader 02/08/2010
The performances are overwhelmed by cinematography so gorgeous and distracting it makes the drama seem like just so much wheel spinning. Go to Full Review Eric Brace Washington Post 02/08/2010
It's all plinky-plink pianos and mewing oboes, trying to jerk those tears a little too hard. No, a lot too hard. The music is awful. Stupendously bad. Go to Full Review Austin Kennedy Film Geek Central 05/02/2013
2.5/4
Great work from Dicaprio, De Niro, and especially Streep certainly make the film watchable, but it still can't save it from feeling like a TV movie of the week. If you're a fan of melodrama... and over 60, then you'll find much to like. Go to Full Review TV Guide 02/08/2010
3/4
Keaton is given a rare opportunity here to remind us that she's not simply a fine comedienne, and she's marvelous. Go to Full Review Film4 02/08/2010
At times attractive, at other times dull. Go to Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Jerod S @jeroduptown May 18 All good - but Keaton's new hair is so laughable. See more Stephen C @bob25009 Oct 15 Success in 1 hour and 38 minutes. See more KB B @Okbullard 05/14/2024 This was such a compelling movie with great acting and storyline. I'd never heard of this one but I'm so glad I watched it. There are some intense scenes and it is a tearjerker. Meryl Streep was superb as usual and I was very impressed with Diane Keaton as well. It's definitely worth the watch. See more Gertrude F @RT21740944 02/19/2024 Amazing. Considering its definitely not funny themes, this movie was not what I'd thought it would feel like. Man, those jokes really worked on me- subtle, but just so clever and hilarious. The humour, like the rest of movie relies on Meryl Streep to work. Her performance was brilliant- sassy, painfully true, and yeah, funny. If I had to use one word to describe Marvin's Room, it would be heartwarming. This movie doesn't fall into the usual tear-jerker cliches. It goes beyond that. The ending was not what I so confidently thought it would be. It provokes questions about all of us and our familial relationships, what they mean about us, and presents the power of sacrifice. What is a life well lived? Is it Lee's fantasy of a degree, a career, lovers, fun. Or is it Bessie's truth of complete sacrifice for those you love? Marvin's Room ends on a note that favours Bessie's version, but I don't know. Who really does know? See more colin m @RT35044827 01/23/2023 Enjoyable slice-of-life family drama. Small choices with big consequences in a family with a lot of thorns. Good movie. The ending was a bit flat. See more Marianne L @RT33592549 12/18/2022 It was a heartfelt story with really good actors and acting, but it too slow with too much doom-and-gloom for me. See more Read all reviews
Marvin's Room

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Cast & Crew

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Jerry Zaks

Director

Meryl Streep

Lee

Leonardo DiCaprio

Hank

Diane Keaton

Bessie

Robert De Niro

Dr. Wally

Hume Cronyn

Marvin

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Marvin's Room

Marvin's Room (1996) Marvin's Room (1996) View more photos

Movie Info

Synopsis Bessie and Lee are sisters who have remained apart for nearly 20 years due to radically different personalities and life paths. Bessie remained in Florida to care for their ill, bedridden father, and Lee moved to Ohio to marry and have a family. But Bessie's doctor has informed her she has leukemia and needs a bone marrow transplant. Bessie's prognosis and Lee's troubled son create an unexpected family reunion.
Director
Jerry Zaks
Producer
Robert De Niro, Scott Rudin, Jane Rosenthal
Screenwriter
Scott McPherson
Distributor
Miramax Films
Production Co
Tribeca Productions, Scott Rudin Productions
Rating
PG-13
Genre
Drama
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Dec 18, 1996, Original
Release Date (Streaming)
Oct 8, 2016
Box Office (Gross USA)
$12.8M
Runtime
1h 38m
Sound Mix
Surround