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On Golden Pond (1981)
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Reviews Counted: 22
Fresh: 20
Rotten:2
Average Rating: 7.5/10
Runtime: 2 hrs 34 mins
Genre: Dramas
Synopsis: Based on the play by Ernest Thompson, ON GOLDEN POND tells the deceptively simple tale of one family's summer. The story centers around the bickering but loving relationship between Ethel and... Based on the play by Ernest Thompson, ON GOLDEN POND tells the deceptively simple tale of one family's summer. The story centers around the bickering but loving relationship between Ethel and Norman Thayer (Katharine Hepburn and Henry Fonda), an elderly couple who are spending their 48th summer at their New England country home and celebrating Norman's 80th birthday. When their independent, insecure daughter, Chelsea (Jane Fonda), and her new boyfriend, Bill Ray (Dabney Coleman), come for Norman's birthday, they also end up asking the couple to look after Billy Ray (Doug McKeon), Bill's teenage son, while they travel to Europe. Over the summer, Norman becomes closer to Billy Ray than he has ever been to his daughter, sparking Chelsea's long-repressed resentment when she returns. In this beautifully filmed story, there are many things going on along the surface of Golden Pond, including the presence of the loons--who represent all things wonderful about their summer house and their life to Ethel. Director Mark Rydell elicits deeply touching performances from his cast (particularly Henry Fonda in his final screen appearance), and the dialogue of Thompson's script is equally graceful. The odds were against this decidedly quiet, small ensemble piece when it was released in 1981, but the timeless material and the confident direction triumphed. [More]
Starring: Katharine Hepburn, Henry Fonda, Jane Fonda, Dabney Coleman
Starring: Katharine Hepburn, Henry Fonda, Jane Fonda, Dabney Coleman, William Lanteau, Christopher Rydell
Director: Mark Rydell
Director: Mark Rydell
Screenwriter: Ernest Thompson
Composer: Dave Grusin
Producer: Terry Carr, Bruce Gilbert
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Reviews for On Golden Pond
Fonda was 75 when this picture was made and must have known he didn't have much time. There could have been no finer final curtain for him than this.
Without question, these are major, meaty roles for Katharine Hepburn and Henry Fonda, and there could have been little doubt that the two would work superbly together.
This family melodrama about aging, mortality, and reconciliation is more significant as a social than artistic event: It's the only teaming of Henry Fonda (who won an Oscar) with daughter Jane (who produced it for him) and also with screen icon Hepburn.
Two of Hollywood's best-loved veterans deserved a far better swan song than this sticky confection.
Watching the movie, I felt I was witnessing something rare and valuable.
On Golden Pond is a mixed blessing, but it offers one performance of rare quality and three others that are very good. That's not half-bad.
On Golden Pond is a thematically rich drama exploring marriage, aging, family conflict, death and dying.
A manipulative, Oscar-ready mainstream drama. But surprisingly, it’s not a bad movie.
Henry Fonda and Katharine Hepburn both shine in an impressively executed Hollywood drama.
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