A young man leaves Ireland with his landlord's daughter after some trouble with her father, and they dream of owning land at the big giveaway in Oklahoma ca. 1893. When they get to the new land, they find jobs and begin saving money. The man becomes a local barehands boxer, and rides in glory until he is beaten, then his employers steal all the couple's money and they must fight off starvation in the winter, and try to keep their dream of owning land alive. Meanwhile, the woman's parents find out where she has gone and have come to America to find her and take her back.
13 Nov Far and Away (1992)
Another Slap
Here is another film in the tradition of “The Quiet Man:” Irish as hard drinkin hard fightin dopes downyou luvem. Once again, the hero is a fighter with a pure heart who the fight-addicted crowds love. Once again, the fiery redhead needs to be won with land as a matter of her dowry. Once again, there is villainy in the moneyed. And one again, we have grand, lovely photos as thin spirituality.
One wouldn’t have an inkling from this that the Irish invented most of the complexities and subtleties of modern storytelling. Nor would one get a clue from any element of this that Misters Howard and Cruise know anything about any of those complexities and subtleties. I suppose there is a market for this sort of pandering (to judge from Speilberg’s success), but it lessens us as much as the ward boss’s rules do in act two.
Posted in 2003
Ted’s Evaluation — 1 of 3: You can find something better to do with this part of your life.
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