Themes: Race Relations, Farm Life, Death of a Partner
Main Cast: Sally Field, Lindsay Crouse, Ed Harris, Amy Madigan, John Malkovich, Danny Glover
Release Year: 1984
Country: US
Run Time: 113 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG
Plot
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, All Movie Guide
Review
Places in the Heart is an intensely personal family drama from writer-director Robert Benton, set and shot in his hometown of Waxahachie, Texas. The film avoids overt sentimentality, thanks in large part to the outstanding central performance of Sally Field, who would receive her second Best Actress Oscar in the Captain Ahab-ish role of a Depression-era widow determined to save her family's farm. Field is surrounded by a wealth of talented supporting players, including married Ed Harris and Amy Madigan as extramarital lovers, and big-screen newcomers Danny Glover and John Malkovich. The stunning, evocative photography is courtesy of Nestor Almendros (Days of Heaven), who bathes the film in a warm, lyrical glow without unearned nostalgia. ~ Brendon Hanley, All Movie Guide
Yankton Hatten - Frank; Gennie James - Possum; Lane Smith - Albert Denby; Ray Baker - Royce Spalding; Jim Gough - Lone Star Syrup Boy; Vernon Grote - KKK Man; Lou Hancock - Dispossessed Lady; Jerry Haynes - Deputy Jack Driscoll; Toni Hudson - Ermine; Terry O'Quinn - Buddy Kelsey; Jay Patterson - W.E. Simmons; Bob Porter - Stunt Double; Matthew Posey - Eugene; J.C. Quinn - Texas Voice; Bert Remsen - Tee Tot Hightower; Robert Schenkkan - Texas Voice; Bill Thurman - Lone Star Syrup Boy; De'Voreaux White - Wylie; Trey Wilson - Texas Voice; Gregg Brazzel - KKK Man; Ned Dowd - KKK Man; Randy Fife - KKK Man; Paul Nuckles - KKK Man; Shelby Brammer - Ruby; Sharon Schaffer - Stunt Double; Norma Young - Beauty Shop Customer
Credit
Sydney Z. Litwack - Art Director, Mary Malin - Costume Designer, Ann Roth - Costume Designer, Joel Tuber - First Assistant Director, Robert Benton - Director, Carol Littleton - Editor, Michael Hausman - Executive Producer, John Kander - Composer (Music Score), Howard Shore - Composer (Music Score), Gene Callahan - Production Designer, Néstor Almendros - Cinematographer, Arlene Donovan - Producer, Michael Hausman - Producer, Derek R. Hill - Set Designer, Lee Poll - Set Designer, Bran Ferren - Special Effects, James Pilcher - Sound/Sound Designer, Peter Odabashian - Sound Editor, Sharon Schaffer - Stunts, Robert Benton - Screenwriter
In 1985, when Sally Field reached the podium to accept her second Oscar (the first was for Norma Rae), she uttered the memorable (and much-mocked) line, "I can't deny the fact that you like me, right now, you like me!" It is often misremembered as, "You like me—you really like me!"
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