Murphy's Romance

This is such a sweet movie - James Garner and Sally Field hit the right notes in this easy-going movie. Garner is perfect in his role and one can see why Field slowly falls in love. I also enjoyed Corey Haim in the film but then remember how he wasted such a promising career and wonderful talent (Lucas, License to Drive). I own this movie because it's seldom on TV and it really leaves you with a good feeling when it's over. Garner still has "it"!!!

Jim and Sally are brilliant in this easy yarn of a couple falling in love, even though he is a good 15 years old than her. Proves age doesn't mean a cracker. The ex-husband sub-plot is a waste of movie time, but it has no effect on the final outcome. Bravo for an excellent story and outstanding acting!

A low-key romantic comedy that pairs Sally Field with James Garner, and proves that the two actors have a great deal of chemistry together.

Sally Field is a newly-divorced mom setting up house with her son. Garner is a good 'ol boy who takes a hankering to her and promises to be a positive male influence. The doofus stud of an ex-husband makes a nuisance of himself. Guess who Field winds up with?

The film rides along harmlessly enough on the personalities of its two leads.

Won Oscar nominations for Garner and its cinematography.

Grade: B+

Murphy's Romance is a great movie. My husband is not a big fan of Chick flicks and he loved it too. I think everyone should see it if they haven't already and I think there should be more films like this. I can't think of one that compares to it. I loved the setting in Arizona and the fact that she was working horses. You don't get too many films like this anymore. It was about starting over and finding love in an unexpected place. Sally Field and James Garner were spectacular. Murphy's Romance contained all the features a great film should possess. It was funny, yet serious and full of romance. It portrayed a mother and son who were close to one another. It was about making tough decisions and real life.

Murphy's Romance is a pleasant easy to take movie about a May - October romance between widower James Garner and younger divorcée Sally Field. It's set in modern day Texas and it moves with grace of a gazelle and the speed of a Galapagos tortoise. And that's not meant in a negative way.

Sally Field with the ink barely dry on her divorce from Brian Kerwin has moved to a small Texas town where she's now acquired a ranch which could use a lot of improvement. She's got her son Corey Haim in tow and they aim to start anew.

The first and best friend they make in town is 60 year old James Garner, the local druggist. He's part of a disappearing breed in that he owns his own pharmacy. Given the way things are 23 years after Murphy's Romance, Garner's store if it still is operating is probably part of chain now, even in small town America.

A steady reliable guy like Garner is all any girl could wish for, but ambling back into the picture is Kerwin who swears on a stack of Bibles he's a changed man. Why he's even a born again Christian.

The man knows how to ring her bell, but that's about all he's good for. In fact he furnishes his own proof before the film ends.

James Garner got his only Oscar nomination and I remember how much I wanted him to win that night watching the Oscars. It would have been great, but William Hurt won for Kiss of the Spider Woman. Murphy's Romance got one other nomination for cinematography, but it lost to the year's Best Picture, Out of Africa.

Murphy's Romance is a tender and touching story about a couple of mature people, one a bit more mature than the other finding true love. As Garner says this is his last love and Field responds this is her first. It's a film for romantics of any age.