One True Thing

Updated June 26, 2020 | Infoplease Staff

It goes without saying that Meryl Streep gives a top-notch performance as a woman losing a hard-fought battle against cancer. But she's not the only actor in peak form. Zellweger captures all the emotions of a child watching a parent die, and Hurt's turn as an aloof, myopic academic is unflinching. When Kate Gulden (Streep), the perfect suburban housewife, is diagnosed with cancer, her husband (Hurt) convinces their journalist daughter, Ellen (Zellweger) to return home to care for her. Because she idolizes her father, Ellen reluctantly agrees, though she finds her mother's lifestyle abhorrent. Ellen begins to see things differently as she gets reacquainted with her mother and sees her overly critical, philandering father in a different light. Yes, it's a tear jerker, but an uncontrived one.