Back Roads

Just recently checked out this little known film from 1981 called "Back Roads" and I knew it would be a winner when it had Tommy Lee Jones and Sally Field in it and I was right the chemistry had worked. This is a heartfelt little tale of struggle and a journey of survival it touches your emotions showing that everyone has good in them and life is an unexpected journey. Set in the deep rural south I believe Alabama you have Sally Field as Amy Post a sweet and love like street walking hotel staying hooker who earns 20 dollars for each bang she gives. Things shakeup a little bit when she meets the rough and rugged Elmore Pratt(Tommy Lee Jones) a man who's dreams of becoming a prize fighter has blown up in smoke as now he moonlights as a taxi car washer! After hooking up the two decide to journey out to California the best way they can as money will not stop them. This is an interesting journey in which both each learn respect, love and courage it proves life is a journey of discovery and learning how to love. Overall good little underrated gem to watch.

Director Martin Ritt reteamed with his "Norma Rae" star Sally Field for this curiously thin road movie that appears to have been inspired by '40s comedies, although nobody at the time was clamoring for an R-rated Preston Sturges. Field retains her appeal in a role that I'm not sure was meant to be likable or not. She's a hustler-with-a-heart-of-gold down South who dreams of being a manicurist; Tommy Lee Jones is the ex-fighter who heads with her out West for a brand new start. They fight, they make up, they swat bugs, they hitch rides, they fight some more. Ritt obviously wanted to give brand new Oscar winner Sally Field the kind of star build-up she nearly had in the Burt Reynolds pictures from the previous decade, but he needed a judicious editor to shape the scenes of comedy and sentimental drama. He also has a problem transitioning from one tone to the next: there's a rousing bit with Jones scoring in the boxing ring, but the joyous mood is then immediately undercut by too-real violence involving a sadistic madam (a genuinely chilling Miriam Colon). Ritt blamed the poor box office returns on his star-leads, who reportedly did not get along. True enough, simply casting nice-girl Field as a streetwalker is little more than a stunt without strong material to back her up. Field does get a subplot trying to establish contact with a child she gave up for adoption, but it leads nowhere--just like the majority of the dead-end "Back Roads". ** from ****

Good road movie and pretty emotion provoking. There are so many involving moments where you may sympathize the characters or feel sad about them, feel their situation and live it with them. The story may lack direction or logically complete end but nevertheless it's worth watching for the warmth of the characters' relations, the sensual way they stick together. If you can enjoy movies without judging them too strictly and without expecting anything stunning or extraordinary and just want to spend time following the way and sharing troubles with the characters, this movie might be for you. I rate this movie for the warmth that is expressed by the protagonists

This movie was an upside down love story of two people who were unlikely to end up together. It was great to watch because you know what's going to happen in the end, but you want to see how they get there. The one problem I had with this movie was Sally Field playing a prostitute. It just didn't seem believable to me. Sally Field looks to innocent and sweet to play a character like this. Tommy Lee Jones, on the other hand is just great. He plays the part of a drifter that moves from town to town and does almost everything to survive, but also maintains a good heart towards this woman(Sally Field)that wants nothing to do with him. If you are going to watch it, watch it for Tommy Lee Jones. One other thing, they should of chosen more than just one song for the movie. The theme song plays about 3 or 4 times throughout the movie. This is one movie that I would love to see remade. It's a timeless movie.

This little film has hooker Sally Field and drifter Tommy Lee Jones hitting the road together when Jones ruins Field's chances for, ahem, gainful employment in the one-horse Southern town where she lives after he decks a cop who tries to bust her. Along the way the two encounter various predicaments and characters, as well as revealing parts of their pasts. Fascinating study that gives two people on the fringe of society faces and intriguing stories. Keep an eye peeled for Nell Carter as a pistol-packin' waitress. Not a bad way to pass the time.