Taking place about thirteen years after the original, following the characters from 1988 to 1993, the plot focuses on Aurora's relationship with her three grandchildren, her late daughter Emma's best friend Patsy and her longtime housekeeper Rosie.
Along the way, Aurora enters into a relationship with a younger man, while watching the world around her change as old friends pass on and her grandchildren make lives of their own.
Aurora Greenway is still her usual strong, willful self, but all is not well with the three grandchildren she raised after Emma's death, particularly elder boy Tommy, who is serving time in jail on a drug charge.
Needing a new cause, Aurora takes charge after Melanie decides to stay in Los Angeles to try to become an actress, her boyfriend having left her for another woman.
Melanie succeeds in landing a role on a television show, which Aurora and Patsy celebrate, but they end up having a fight on the flight home.
The ending scene features young Henry playing the familiar theme from Terms of Endearment on the piano as Tommy sits beside him.
In November 1992, it was announced Paramount Pictures had begun development on The Evening Star an adaptation of the novel of the same name by Larry McMurtry which itself was a follow-up to Terms of Endearment.
[2] Shirley MacLaine was confirmed to reprise her Academy Award winning role of Aurora Greenway in the film which was set to be developed by producer David Kirkpatrick with Robert Harling writing the screenplay.
[2] Despite the critical and commercial success of the 1983 film adaptation of Terms of Endearment, Paramount wouldn't commit to buying until Maclaine signed on.
[citation needed] On Rotten Tomatoes it holds a 20% rating from 35 reviews with the consensus: "Even taken on its own terms, there's nothing terribly endearing about this belated sequel.
[9] Mick LaSalle, in a December 25 San Francisco Chronicle review, similarly said that the film lacks a story and instead "is constructed as a series of incidents involving Aurora and her family."