Themes: Crumbling Marriages, Mothers and Daughters, Fathers and Daughters
Main Cast: Jon Voight, JoBeth Williams, Ellen Barkin, Allen Garfield, Annabeth Gish
Release Year: 1986
Country: US
Run Time: 105 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG
Plot
Set in 1950, this is a convincing, well-acted drama about a young girl's growing up in Las Vegas amidst poverty and a turbulent home life. The 13-year-old Rose (Annabeth Gish) lives with her mother (JoBeth Williams), stepfather (Jon Voight), and two sisters in a working-class home. Trouble is brewing on several fronts: her stepfather is his usual abusive self but is dipping into the bottle more frequently, her glitzy Aunt Starr (Ellen Barkin) arrives for a six-week stay and causes an upheaval in the marriage, and an above-ground nuclear bomb is about to be exploded at the government test site (only 65 miles away). If Rose can survive all this with her health, her sanity, and her clear intelligence intact, it will not be due to her supportive environment. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
Review
Taking its place somewhere between Bill Forsythe's knowing, delicate, adolescent character study Housekeeping and Tony Richardson's dark period melodrama Blue Sky, Eugene Corr's Desert Bloom often runs the risk of crossing the line from slice-of-life epiphanies to soap opera pathos. Luckily, the film's performances reign in its tendency to romanticize its period signifiers and none-too-subtle atomic-age backdrop. As the blowsy sister-in-law who stirs up a variety of trouble -- both hormonal and otherwise -- Ellen Barkin threatens to walk away with the picture. Without resorting to flamboyant tics or floozy stereotypes, Barkin inhabits a life that the other performers -- trapped in the script's literate, young-adult novella-quality narrative -- can't seem to muster. That doesn't stop them from trying, however, and Annabeth Gish and JoBeth Williams both manage to find solid supporting ground opposite Barkin and a slightly overblown Jon Voight. Desert Bloom was one of the first films to be backed by the support of Robert Redford's Sundance Institute. ~ Michael Hastings, All Movie Guide
Jay Underwood - Robin; Desiree Joseph - Dee Ann Chismore; Dusty Balcerzak - Barbara Jo Chismore; Bob Gish - Superintendent; Judith Gish - Spelling Bee Moderator; Irene Goodnight - R.C. Volunteer; William Lang - Colonel; Tressi Loria - Shelly; Jim McCarthy - Driver; Laura Rasmussen - Meryl; Ann Risley - Mrs. Muratore; Rick Scheiffer - Mr. Brandal; Mark Jenkins - AEC Officer; Sherry Allen - Spelling Bee Contestant; Todd Barish - Spelling Bee Contestant; Doris Berman - Woman at Spelling Bee; Tamara Cooley - Adult Party Goer; Chris Corr - Delivery Boy; Armen Dirtadian - Publicist; Kysha Doty - Spelling Bee Contestant; Patty Harbor - Adult Party Goer; Ray LeFre - Adult Party Goer; Steven Mastroieni - Nick; Eugenia Moran - R.C. Nurse; Al Petito - Radio Clerk; Danica Remy - Nurse; Jesse Sloan - Spelling Bee Contestant; Fred C. Smith - Tour Guide; Mike Stein - Adult Party Goer; Reynaldo Villalobos, Jr. - Boy Finalist; Johnny L. Watkins - Cab Driver; Bruce Wineinger - Texan; Onna Young - Spelling Bee Contestant; Molly Fontaine - Ava; Randy Harris - Photographer
Credit
Lawrence Miller - Art Director, Deborah Lucchessi - Casting, Hilary M. Rosenfeld - Costume Designer, Eugene Corr - Director, Cari Coughlin - Editor, John Currin - Editor, David Garfield - Editor, Brad Fiedel - Composer (Music Score), Vaughn Horton - Songwriter, Ben Nye, Jr. - Makeup, Reynaldo Villalobos - Cinematographer, Michael Hausman - Producer, Robert Zilliox - Set Designer, Boss Film Corp. - Special Effects, Eugene Corr - Screenwriter, Beth Gutcheon - Screenwriter, Linda Remy - Short Story Author
