Terms of Endearment

Terms of Endearment (1983)

  • 87% of critics liked it
    (39 reviews)

  • 81% of users liked it
    (34,792 ratings)

Terms of Endearment covers three decades in the lives of widow Aurora Greenway (Shirley MacLaine) and her daughter Emma (Debra Winger). Fiercely protected by Aurora throughout childhood, Emma runs into resistance from her mother when she marries wishy-washy college teacher Flap (Jeff Daniels).… More

Play Trailer

PG,
Directed By
Genres
Drama, Romance, Comedy
In Theaters
Nov 23, 1983 Wide
Paramount Home Video

Critic Reviews

  • Gene Siskel, Chicago Tribune

    Terms of Endearment is about three relationships and students of screenwriting would do well to study the way in which these three stories are told completely and effortlessly in a movie of average length.

  • Richard Schickel, TIME Magazine

    Its quirky rhythms and veering emotional tones are very much its own, and they owe less to movie tradition than they do to a sense of how the law of unintended consequences pushes us ceaselessly through the years, permitting no pause for perspective.

  • James Harwood, Variety

    Brooks' dialog is wonderful throughout and all the characters carry off their assignments beautifully, even down to Danny De Vito and Norman Bennett as MacLaine's other suffering suitors.

  • Dave Kehr, Chicago Reader

    [Writer-director James L. Brooks] has television in his soul: his people are incredibly tiny (most are defined by a single stroke of obsessive behavior), and he chokes out his narrative in ten-minute chunks, separated by aching lacunae.

  • Geoff Andrew, Time Out

    Then The Illness strikes, and the film changes gear completely, pulling out all the stops.

Read all 16 critic reviews

See more critic ratings and reviews on Rotten Tomatoes

Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)

Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)

Featured Audience Ratings

  • Lucas M


    Heart-warming, this classic chronicle about family problems and platonic love. Together with finest actings and an intelligent script, Terms of Endearment gonna make the most strong people cry.

  • Jameson W


    A great film! So touching. Shirley MacLaine and Debra Winger both give great performances! I had originally given this film a 4/5 rating. However I have recently decided to bump it up to a 4.5/5. I will never forget this film...the acting, the story, the characters, the… More

  • Alexander D


    Soap opera saga of a feature film is like baking honey into a pie: it's deliciously sweet, but it's not what we're at all used to. When I turned on TERMS OF ENDEARMENT, I was full-out ready to hate it. But by the end, my decision was that I had enjoyed it well… More

  • Chris W


    Spanning several years, this is the story of a mother and daughter, their sometimes intense love/hate relationship, and the quest each one goes through to find love, happiness, and acceptance. It was based on a work by Larry McMurty (which I fins surprising),and marked the directorial… More

  • ♥Robyn


    "Terms of Endearment" is most definitely a romantic comedy but one with a difference. It will make you laugh, smile, and fall in love with the characters, but it will also keep you watching through the way the various relationships grow, the performances from Debra Winger,… More

Read all 20 featured audience ratings

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Cast

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