Pat Conroy Movies
An Atlanta-bred novelist who credits his Southern belle mother with inspiring his love of the English language, Pat Conroy overcame great childhood adversity to write such affecting novels as The Lords of Discipline and The Prince of Tides. Although the abuse that Conroy endured at the hands of his father would scar the burgeoning novelist for life, his difficult memories would ultimately prove a cornerstone of both his art and his later life. His father's military background found the family constantly packing their bags, and though young Conroy would change schools at an astonishing pace, at his father's behest he eventually ended up at the Citadel Military Academy in Charleston, S.C. It was there that Conroy's strong bond with a teacher would inspire his first novel: The Boo. Teaching English in Beaufort upon graduation, Conroy wed a Vietnam War widow before opting to educate the underprivileged on Daufuskie Islan, where he was fired after only one year due to unconventional practices and his refusal to inflict corporal punishment upon his students. The situation later inspired Conroy's novel The Water Is Wide (1972), which served as an expose to the squalid educational system. The National Education Association awarded Conroy a humanitarian award for his novel, and The Water Is Wide was soon adapted into the feature film Conrack, starring Jon Voight. Conroy and his family later moved to Atlanta, had a daughter, and he wrote the autobiographical novel The Great Santini in 1976. A powerful, harrowing novel that would eventually result in Conroy's divorce from both his parents and his wife, the book was later adapted into a film starring Robert Duvall. Conroy once again revisited his childhood for the Citadel expose The Lords of Discipline, which was adapted into a feature film in 1983. Barbra Streisand stepped into the director's chair to film Conroy's The Prince of Tides for the screen, and the downbeat family drama proved a hit both on celluloid and in print. His subsequent novel, Beach Music, was an affecting tale of loss and grief that ultimately brought Conroy unexpected comfort from his past. While touring to promote the book, Conroy's divorce was in the final stages. When members of his former Citadel basketball team began showing up at book signings, the prolific writer revisited his senior year in the inspirational non-fiction novel My Losing Season. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide- 2006
This made-for-TV movie is a remake of the theatrical feature Conrack, using the original title of the source novel by Pat Conroy. Set in 1969, The Water Is Wide stars Jeff Hephner as Conroy, an idealistic young teacher whose first assignment is at a run-down school located on Yamacraw Island in South Carolina. The state's imperious school superintendent Henry Piedmont (Frank Langella) has written off the unkempt, illiterate black children of Yamacraw as thoroughly unteachable, while the school's authoritarian black principal Mrs. Brown (Alfre Woodard), evidently unwilling to buck the Anglo-Saxon establishment, insists that Conroy doggedly adhere to an established curriculum that has never worked with the students. Instead, Conroy utilizes compassion and humor as teaching tools, reaching out to his students through a variety of humanistic methods, including adopting the kids' own archaic Gullah dialect in order to teach them proper English. Not surprisingly, Mr. Piedmont and Mrs. Brown are dead set against Conroy's "radical" approach to teaching -- even when it is obviously working -- but fortunately, our hero has a strong ally in the form of deputy superintendent Bennington (James Murtaugh). Echoing elements from another Pat Conroy novel, The Great Santini, the young protagonist is plagued throughout the film by memories of his uncompromising Marine-officer father, who has instilled in Conroy a hatred (and fear) of all authority figures. Produced as part of CBS's Hallmark Hall of Fame series, The Water Is Wide was first broadcast on January 29, 2006. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jeff Hephner, Frank Langella, (more)
Barbra Streisand directed and stars in this love story about two people of dissimilar backgrounds who form a connection based on their unhappy experiences. Adapted from the novel by Pat Conroy, the story concerns Tom Wingo (Nick Nolte), a rudderless, unemployed football coach. Stuck in a loveless marriage with a wife (Blythe Danner) who feels nothing for him, and unable to move forward with his life, he is suddenly jarred out of his lethargy when he travels to New York because his twin sister (Melinda Dillon) has just tried to kill herself. In New York, he meets her psychiatrist, Susan Lowenstein (Barbra Streisand), who is married to a snobbish husband (Jeroen Krabbe). Susan and Tom become attracted to each other out of their loneliness. As his relationship with Susan blossoms, Tom learns to deal with his mother Lila (Kate Nelligan), who is the sole emotional center of his life. In the past, Lila was married to an abusive alcoholic. When she left her first husband, she married a rich man whose abuse was mental rather than physical. Tom hates Lila, but he can't free himself of his attachment to her. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Nick Nolte, Barbra Streisand, (more)
Adapted from a long novel by Pat Conroy, the story is shortened to focus on a harrowing account of institutional racism in the 1960s American South. David Keith stars as Will McLean, a senior student at the fictional Carolina Military Institute. When the school admits its first black student, McLean is confidentially charged with making sure that the newcomer's initiation does not get too violent. Yet that is exactly what happens, and McLean becomes alarmed when it seems like someone is out to kill his new charge. McLean's own investigation of the matter uncovers an elusive group of sadistic students who will go to any length to control their school. ~ Bernadette McCallion, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- David Keith, Robert Prosky, (more)
Bull Meechum (Robert Duvall) loves fighting almost as much as he loves the Marine Corps. Profane, cocky, and arrogant, he's a great fighter pilot -- and he knows it. His boss hates his guts, but knows that if he's going to straighten out his lagging squadron, Meechum is the man to do it. The story and irony of The Great Santini is in Meechum's total intolerance of family life and fatherhood. Meechum has a lovely, supportive wife, Lillian (Blythe Danner), an earnest, likeable son, Ben (Michael O'Keefe), three smaller children, and a good home, but Meechum finds the pastoral nature of peacetime totally incompatible with his gung-ho nature. So he begins to drink. He drills his family unmercifully, like recruits. He hammers his son relentlessly until, in a basketball game, his son fights back, and the family cheers Ben's efforts. Tension builds in the household until, during one drunken night, Meechum breaks down. Based on a best-selling novel by Pat Conroy, The Great Santini earned critical raves but fared poorly at the box office. Duvall's performance as Meechum is generally regarded as one of his greatest. ~ Nick Sambides, Jr., All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Duvall, Blythe Danner, (more)
- 1974
- PG
Jon Voight stars in this story, based on fact, about a teacher determined to make a difference in the lives of his students. In the late 1960s, Pat Conroy (Jon Voight) is given a teaching position on a small island off the coast of South Carolina. Conroy discovers that the school is little more than a shack and his students are functionally illiterate, can't count, and don't even know what country they're in. (They also mispronounce his name as "Conrack," a name that sticks.) The school's principal, Mrs. Scott (Madge Sinclair), has taught the students to believe that they're lazy and stupid, and the result is a group of kids who've been ignored and have no useful skills. Conroy responds by throwing out the rule book and teaching lessons that will be useful in their daily lives. The students respond eagerly as Conroy plays classical music, shows them movies, teaches them to swim, and explains the importance of brushing their teeth. However, many local leaders are unhappy with Conroy and his methods, while Conroy is not afraid to say that institutional racism is largely to blame for the neglect heaped on the students. The real Pat Conroy, whose book The Water is Wide was the basis for this picture, later became a respected novelist; his fiction includes The Prince of Tides and The Great Santini, both later made into films. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jon Voight, Paul Winfield, (more)
