Lots of low-key, powerful acting. The moments of emotional 'pay off' are built slowly and with great care. Did Ron Howard ever have a better moment on screen then the time he almost escapes the migrant life but finds himself trapped again when a family member dies and he is needed to work and cries out with real anguish "Nothing ever works out!"?
But the real gem of the film? It is the moment when Cloris Leachman 'loses it'. A sadistic sheriff is going to confiscate the family's pitiful but 'illegal' rabbit trap which is the only way they can put some meat on the table. Her authentic and 'full body' hysteria is the equal of her Academy Award winning moment at the end of The Last Picture Show. She literally holds nothing back - in both films it is scary its so good!
A young Sissy Spacek plays Ron Howard's sister and Cindy Williams (of Laverne and Shirley fame) is natural and delightful as Ron's girlfriend. The sets, people and detail are realistic and not 'prettied up'. When I look at all the crap on DVD, why can't they give this a decent treatment? Who wrote this? LANFORD Wilson, famous playwright and he used a TENNESSEE WILLIAMS short story as the basis - meeting and working it out with Tennessee!
