Pitch black in humour and devastatingly effective in its character driven drama, August: Osage County stars an outstanding ensemble cast on top of their game, led by a gloriously boisterous Meryl Streep in one of her bravest and best performances.

The centre piece of August: Osage County is a family meal gone royal rumble. Great dinner scenes are not spoken enough about, which is a shame since what better setting is there to fester great dramatic, comedic (or both) moments than amongst a fragile landscape of food, gathering and strict conversational rules (no politics or religion, please).

In the gallery of great dinner scenes, the one in August: Osage County ranks high, with the reunion of a splintered Oklahoma family for the sudden suicide of its beloved patriarch (Sam Shepard, ever wise and bringing that gravitas) one filled with a mean streak that is both mercilessly cruel and mouth agape funny, beginning with a never ending grace (delivered by a perfectly chilled Chris Cooper) and ending with ultimate fighting: home cooking style.

It all comes from the mind of Tracy Letts, the Pulitzer Prize winning playwright who previously shocked us with a different dinner scene altogether in the brutal crime thriller Killer Joe.

Directed by John Wells, August: Osage County delves into the belly of a dysfunctional family at their wits end. The instigator of the high volume tension is cancer suffering matriarch Violet Weston (Meryl Streep). Drugged up on a steady diet of pills, and with a gut filled with bitterness that she spews upon her family without notice, Violet is the type of train wreck that actors are drawn too. It’s a role that Streep gorges into with feverish aplomb.

While some have accused the iconic actress of coming on too strong, Streep plays this loud character at the right high volume yet does not lose her head while doing so, perfectly playing devastatingly mean in some parts, painfully funny in others, and filling the space in between with a sad fragility. Amongst Streep’s many terrific performances, it ranks high.

The rest of the cast also deliver upon Letts’ screenplay. Julia Roberts hasn’t been this good in years, standing toe to toe with Streep and reminding us of the talent behind the mile wide smile. Great too is the quietly effective Chris Cooper, as is Dermot Mulroney whose brilliant portrayal of a man two levels below sleazy will have viewers clamouring for a shower after being in his presence.

While Wells taken advantage of the Oklahoma setting by providing plenty moments for those vast mid-west open spaces to shine, he – just like his cast – are slave to Letts’ writing. It’s Letts words that fuel the performances that make August: Osage County such a great, entertaining and exhausting watch. Wells captures the madness beautifully, adapting a play about dysfunction into a wonderfully functional piece of cinema.