One True Thing
| One True Thing | |
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Theatrical release poster
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| Directed by | Carl Franklin |
| Produced by | Jesse Beaton Leslie Morgan Harry J. Ufland William W. Wilson III |
| Written by | Karen Croner |
| Based on |
One True Thing by Anna Quindlen |
| Starring | |
| Music by | Cliff Eidelman |
| Cinematography | Declan Quinn |
| Edited by | Carole Kravetz |
| Distributed by | Universal Studios |
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Release date
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Running time
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127 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $30 million |
| Box office | $26,616,840 |
One True Thing is a 1998 American drama film directed by Carl Franklin. It tells the story of a woman who is forced to put her life on hold in order to care for her mother who is dying of cancer. It was adapted by Karen Croner from the novel by Anna Quindlen. The novel and film are based on Anna Quindlen's real life and her struggle of dealing with the death of her mother, Prudence Pantano Quindlen in 1972, due to ovarian cancer.
The film stars Meryl Streep, Renée Zellweger, William Hurt and Tom Everett Scott. Bette Midler sings the lead song, "My One True Friend", over the end credits. The track was first released on Midler's 1998 album Bathhouse Betty. It was shot in Morristown, NJ, Maplewood, NJ, as well as in Princeton University.
Ellen Gulden has a high-pressure job writing for New York magazine. As the movie begins, she is visiting her family home for her father's surprise birthday party. It becomes obvious that she deeply admires her father, George, a once-celebrated novelist and college professor, but has barely restrained disdain for her mother, Kate, and the domestic life she lives. When it is discovered that Kate has cancer, George pressures Ellen to come home and take care of her mother. Ellen is taken aback by this request, knowing it could jeopardize her career and love interest, but finally agrees, caving in to her father's appeals and inducements.
As Ellen helps her mother with domestic chores while her father goes about his usual business without helping much, Ellen begins to reassess her views of her parents. She realizes she always brushed her mother aside and idealized her father, despite his self-centered focus on his career and - she discovers - longtime habit of having flings with his female students.
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