“Terms of Endurance” seems like a better title for this movie. It takes willpower to stick with it to the end. Terms of Endearment (1983, rated PG, 132 minutes) has a decent premise and, of course, decent acting talent, but it mostly wanders around searching for the meaning of love, and real plot and character development, and it never gets there.
Jack Nicholson (Oscar for Best Actor in Supporting Role) performs a caricature of his character, Garrett Breedlove, in his on-again-off-again pursuit of Shirley MacLaine (Oscar for Best Actress in Leading Role) who, as Aurora Greenway, seems to try burning a candle at both ends and giving lackluster advice about the whole love thing. Debra Winger (Oscar nominee for Best Actress in a Leading Role) offers a forgettable performance as Emma Horton, who doesn’t assume leadership of much of anything.
Somebody who turned off the lights on the set each night must have imagined that they all had better things to do with their time.
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