Yankton Hatten Movies
Melissa Gilbert acquits herself well in this old-fashioned family drama about a gritty Texas orphan named Charlie (Gilbert), a substitute parent for her brothers, determined to succeed in life by converting an unmanageable rodeo horse into an equestrian champion. The transformation from equine dross to championship dressage is not an easy road, and helping Charlie is the often tipsy but tough Foster (Richard Farnsworth), as well as Matt, the man who captures her heart (Michael Schoeffling). After they succeed in training the actually talented horse, they head for the blue grass and bluer blood of Kentucky, where the equestrian and racing elite hold court over all, including newcomers from Texas. Now they have to coax the horse to make it through the formal dressage, cross-country, and jumping competitions -- and to do that in top form. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi
- Starring:
- Richard Farnsworth, Melissa Gilbert, (more)
Of the three "mortgage on the farm" films of 1984 (Country and The River were the other two), Places in the Heart is the only one set during the Depression. After her husband is killed, Sally Field is forced to take over the debt-ridden Texas family farm herself. Though slightly embittered by the fact that a black man was responsible for her husband's death, Field accepts the help of another African-American, Danny Glover. She is also given aid and comfort by her blind boarder, John Malkovich. Despite almost insurmountable odds, Field manages to bring in the cotton crop and to hold her farm and family together. Throughout the film, director Robert Benton stresses the importance of solidarity in facing down disaster, underlining this point with a remarkable surrealistic finale, in which the "live" members of the cast are seen singing a hymn with the characters who have "died" in the course of the film. Places in the Heart won Sally Field her second Academy Award. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Sally Field, Lindsay Crouse, (more)
