Farewell to Donald Sutherland (1935-2024)

 

Canadian Actor, Donald Sutherland  (father of Kiefer Sutherland) has died.

His best performance was in  "Citizen X" (1995) as a district head of the KGB in the Soviet Union in the TRUE story of  the hunt for the USSR's  first serial Rapist/Killer, Andrei Chikatilo, for which he won the Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actor.

It is a hard, hard movie to watch (due to the content) but certainly is one of the best I've ever seen and (by far) the best thing HBO has ever spawned. 

This movie is as accurate as Hollywood ever gets, taking the case apart and watching it unfold year after horrible, frustrating year.

Although the makers must show a great deal, they used a very restrained hand. Yet the content intensifies in graphic nature as it progresses, which actually is very useful to display how serial killers intensify in their behavior if they are not caught and motivates us emotionally to get this monster caught!

It is NOT for Sensitive viewers or the faint of heart, but a very well made movie in every respect.

MY Rating:

8/10

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️🔴🔴

 

Donald Sutherland is also well know for his wonderful depiction of dad, Calvin Jarret, in the movie  "Ordinary People" which won Best Picture, Best Director (Robert Redford), Best Supporting Actor (Timothy Hutton) etc, etc, at the 1981 Academy Awatds.

It is the story of the aftermath on a family after the accidental death of their oldest son (and the subsequent attempted suicide of their younger son) as they try and rebuild their family.

Mary Tyler Moore took the limelight for this movie because she gave a gripping performance as the distant, controlling mother and Timothy Hutton was equally powerful as the broken son devastated by the death of his beloved older brother. However, I learned later that Dick Van Dyke was originally cast to play the father which made me reconsider Donald's performance. His character (and performance) is what anchors this movie as he quietly goes through it trying to understand his small family and his own grief. It would have been a VERY different movie without him.

It is also a difficult movie to watch because of its deeply emotional content but also receives my 

8/10 Rating

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️🔴🔴

MY criteria for someone being a great actor? Versatility and Longevity. So to Donald Sutherland I say,

"Well done. Take a bow,"

The Truth with Love,

Always Laura-Lee 

🍁🌿🍁🌿🍁🌿🍁🌿🍁🌿

P.S. On the flipside, there are two movies by Sutherland you can completely skip. Film Noir, Psycho-Thriller, "Klute" (1971) and Black Comedy (No. That's not a racist thing. It's actually a genre), "MASH" (1970) which the long running TV show was based on.

Both films were early on in Donald's career and I didn't see either of them until I was an adult because they would have NEVER been showed on TV until western civilization had deteriorated enough to broadcast them.

 They are both "angsty" anti-establishment, graphic in all ways and end tragically, which was all the rage for movies made in the 1970s. I'm not even going to bother to rate them and just advise you to spend your time doing something much more beneficial. like repeatedly poking yourself in the eye with a sharp stick or...

  watching the "Hunger Games" again (for the umpteenth time.) 😉

OR...

   we could all just stare at (easy on the eyes) Jennifer Lawrence some more. 😳

LINK My Book Reviews at Goodreads (The Hunger Games Top of the List)