Ordinary People came out in 1980 and was Robert Redford's directorial debut.  I didn't see it in the theater, but years later as an adult.  I always thought of Mary Tyler Moore as the cute and spunky characters she played on TV from the Dick Van Dyke show to the Mary Tyler Moore show.  After seeing her in this film, I never saw her in the same light. She showed she had some serious acting chops, but she didn't win the Oscar for her performance.  The fact that Donald Sutherland was not nominated for his performance was considered one of the biggest acting snubs in Academy history. It's a great film about the dynamics of a family.  Yes, it's sad, but damn it's good. Another reason I like this film is that an X rated version of it was mentioned in one of my all time favorite movies, The Fisher King.