Terms Of Endearment
Comedy, Drama, Romance
Paramount Pictures  (1983) 132 mins PG

7.3 (13,463 votes)
Aurora Greenway (Shirley MacLaine) and her daughter Emma Greenway (Debra Winger) have a close, but sometimes different, relationship. Aurora raised Emma on her own, so she always tried to keep her close as her only family. When Emma marries Flap Horton (Jeff Daniels) and moves away, Aurora begins a new life as a single woman on the dating scene. Although she dates a series of men, she never finds that special one, but former astronaut Garrett Breedlove (Jack Nicholson) comes very close. Over the years, Emma can always turn to her mother, even when she and Flap break up. One day, Emma is diagnosed with a terminal illness and they both must face losing one another and the big decisions that have to be made....

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Cast and Crew
Jeff Daniels  ......  Flap Horton
Danny DeVito  ......  Vernon Dahlart
John Lithgow  ......  Sam Burns
Shirley MacLaine  ......  Aurora Greenway
Jack Nicholson  ......  Garrett Breedlove
Debra Winger  ......  Emma Greenway Horton
Director  .....  James L. Brooks
Producer  .....  James L. Brooks; Penney Finkelman Cox
Writer  .....  James L. Brooks; Larry McMurtry
Notes
Goofs:
Miscellaneous: During the scene that Emma gives Flap a tie, there is a purple tag hanging from the sleeve of her blouse. (more)

Trivia:
Debra Winger behaved erratically on the set of this film because she was trying to get over a severe cocaine addiction. At one point, she and Shirley MacLaine got into a shoving match. (more)

Filming Locations:
1148 Heights Blvd., Houston, Texas, USA (more)

Quotes:
[Lying in the surf after being thrown from the car]
Garrett Breedlove: If you wanted to get me on my back, all you had to do was ask me.
(more)

Awards:
Won 5 Oscars. Another 25 wins & 10 nominations (more)