One True Thing by Carl Franklin

As Mother’s Day 2014 approaches, we’re consider what we love and respect about the woman who has consistently given us so much. Yet, for some, Mother’s Day doesn’t present an opportunity for easy admiration and rosy memories; for some, Mother’s Day feels like the annual reminder of an absence, illness, or even death. That’s why this Mother’s Day, we’re re-watching the 1998 Carl Franklin classic, One True Thing: a film about a mother who loses her battle with cancer, but gains a completely new relationship with her daughter before her death.

What makes One True Thing such a powerful film is the finesse with which Franklin crafts the dysfunctional family dynamics between mother Kate (Meryl Streep), father George (William Hurt) and daughter Ellen (Renee Zellweger). Ellen is a young writer for New York Magazine, bent on achieving perfection in the eyes of her National Book Award–winning father. She has put her father up on a blinding pedestal ever since childhood, admiring his devotion to academia as an ivy-league professor and striving for his acceptance. Consequentially, she’s distanced herself from her stay-at-home mother. Kate is the image of domestic happiness and Ellen won’t have any of it – her Martha Stewart skill-set is embarrassing.

We enter the film in the midst of this sad, solidified family dynamic – but it’s quickly tested when Kate must receive an operation for cancer, and Ellen must come home to take care of her. George comes up with the idea of bringing Ellen home, which seems ostensibly thoughtful, though in truth he just doesn’t want some nurse coming in and shaking up his routine. He’s been such an inattentive father and husband that he’s failed to understand the insult of asking Ellen to just drop everything and move back home – as if her career was never worth much in the first place.

A mother and daughter grow closer.
(Credit: newslang89)

As she hesitantly steps into her mother’s shoes, Ellen realizes just how much Kate has had to put up with over the years. It takes a lot of grace, strength, and composure to play the role of housekeeper, secretary, and cheerleader for a husband who’s settled into an inconsiderate mindset. But a breaking point arises when Ellen discovers her father has been having flings with students at his university for years. Kate tells Ellen that she has always known about them—and borne them in silence. It’s a moment of sadness, but also of blooming respect; it’s the creation of a relationship the two never would have had if the cancer had never come.

When her mother is diagnosed with cancer, Renee Zellweger’s character must take a walk in her shoes.
(Credit: Amazon)

One True Thing is not just a film that prompts us to remember and love our mothers, but also a story that reminds us of how much good forgiveness can do for a family. The love we feel for family members is inherent – but sometimes, it’s not enough. Love, especially in the face of cancer and terminal illness, must be tended to. It must grow to support the challenges life (and death) bring. In this way, One True Thing teaches us that to love deeply is an act of courage.

Has cancer ever affected a loved on in your life? How will you be celebrating Mother’s Day 2014? We look forward to your comments below.

Watch the trailer here.

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