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Far and Away |
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Stars: Tom Cruise, Nicole Kidman, Thomas Gibson, Robert Prosky, Barbra Babcock
Director: Ron Howard
Rated: PG=13
Score: 8/10 |
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Unfortunately this is one of those films that when released, never quite reached an audience. It was Ron Howard's baby, ode to his heritige, and takes place in the late 1800's Ireland and then America. Cruise plays Joseph Donnelly, a poor Irish farmer who seeks revenge after his father's death. In these days there was a big stretch between the rich and the poor, and his landlord was one of the wealthy greedmongers who has done nothing but wreak havok on their lives and make them miserable. Upon arriving at his house he has a run in with the man's young beautiful daughter, Shannon. She stabs him with a pitchfork and Joseph see's an opportunity to kill her father - but he is inept and just a poor farmer boy, albiet a very strongwilled one. |
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Shannon makes Joseph a proposal, she desperately wants to escape the confines of her wealthy Irish lifestyle in search for land and freedom and excitement that America promises. She needs a male escort though, and Joseph needs land. He cannot believe when he finds out they are giving it away for free. |
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So they set off for America, and upon their arrival are immediately robbed and find themselves scraping by to survive. Shannon is very spoiled and upper class, and is thrust into the life of a chicken plucker and doing whatever she can to survive - and save up for the trip they need to take to the Oklahoma land rush. This was an actual event that took place where people came from far and wide to line up in a race to stake their claim on land, a very few actually succeeded. But for Joseph this is a new life, he doesn't see their situation as impoverished or miserable - he has something he didn't have in Ireland. Freedom. He can get a job right away, be put up in a boarding house, make a man out of himself. He becomes a street-fighter, fighting in matches that are pretty nasty but he's quick and makes a fast buck at it.
The great thing about this film is it reminded me of the old classic films, like Hepburn and Grant where there is alot of friction going on between the two lead characters. Writers then knew that the bickering and passionate fights built up the chemistry and the anticipation the audience had of the two finally getting together. The cinematography is well done, from the streets of the big city where you can almost smell the filth to the wide sweeping plains of out West. Tension builts between the two characters, beneath their stubborn attitutes you can see the desire they have for one another...and the concern. In the meantime Shannon's family has packed up to come get find her, along with her suitor who has quite a bone to pick with Joseph.
The film doesn't quite tie together in the end with the last scene, it's somehow trying to be too profound and symbolic but it just didn't sweep me with emotion. However I really enjoyed the journey of Shannon and Joseph from beginning to end and as a love story, the film has alot of humor and is wonderfully shot bringing the 1890's to life. You see the struggles and hardships that many people must have gone through back then, and the all importance that man has always placed in ownership of land. "A man's not a man unless he has land." Well worth the watch. |
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