"Ordinary People"

(1980, Paramount, dir. Robert Redford, 124 min, PG-13) was another crowd pleaser. It made the canon by baroque composer Johann Pacabel famous. Timothy Hutton plays teenager Conrad Jarrett, who is driven to despair and attempted suicide after the accidental death of an older brother in a sailing accident. Judd Hirsch plays the therapist Tyrone Berger.

The script pays attention to the idea of a breakthrough in dealing with a therapist, of disclosing forbidden thoughts or fantasies (or sometimes the significance of fetishes), and the unwillingness of the mother Beth (Mary Tyler Moore) to love anyone "where they are".