Run the Wild Fields

Sean Patrick Flannery is reserved as a drifter who comes to a small town looking for work. Though the town believes he is a coward since he is not in the War, a young girl, who's mother has hired him to help run the farm now that her husband has disappeared in the War, finds the drifter fascinating and is torn as to whether she wants her father to return at all. The leads are fine and this is a quick watch without any heavy impact.

Somebody asked what the "radio waves" speech was all about. I believe Tom is trying, without reference to Christianity, to say that we are all immortal in the sense that radio waves are immortal. Even though FDR is dead, his words will continue to bounce, forever, like radio waves, from star to star in the universe. This struck me as a quite touching and genuine moment in the film. I was less enchanted with the biography provided for Tom, especially as it became known at the most opportune moment (the scene when Tom is being heroic). But the performances by the three leads were enough to keep me interested in this bittersweet film.

This film is well worth watching for the emotions that are allowed to develop between the main characters. The mysterious stranger has his own secrets, and it may possibly just have happened, (leaving room for artistic license.) I liked being caught into that particular time-frame of the '40's when morality still existed in the American culture, and people (generally) had depth of character. The film does not "assault" the viewer, like so many recent releases will assault the senses. Really well acted and directed, I thought.

This film held my interest to the very end with fine performances by Joanne Whalley, Sean Patrick Flanery, Alexa Vega, and Cotter Smith. It reminded me of two other excellent films. The movie is narrated by the young daughter, Opal, but in retrospect using her now grown up voice, similar to Scout, Gregory Peck's daughter in To Kill a Mockingbird, and Opal's character is nearly as appealing. Also this film reminds me of Places in the Heart, with a "single woman" trying to manage a farm without her husband present and necessarily bringing people together to save the farm. This film has Flanery as Tom the drifter invited to help Joanne Whalley with the farm, as Danny Glover and John Malkovich helped Sally Field in Places in the Heart.

Having identified those similarities, the film stands well on its own and I appreciated the dramatic tension of several plot lines which did resolve in less predictable ways, and left me feeling better about the movie watching experience by avoiding predictable plot development. I won't "spoil" the movie by disclosing the specific plot issues in this review. The movie allowed me to appreciate the lead characters as I got to know them better in the events of the film. I would rate this one 8 out of 10 and recommend it with enthusiasm.

An extensive effort is made by all involved to present an accurate background of a small town in the U.S. and its close connection to martial affairs on varying fronts in 1945. A suite of scenes is given sincere attention by the director, Paul Kaufman, in his feature film debut. The text of Rodney Vaccaro's script, based upon his play, is remarkably well done in light of his hideous attempt at comedy with the misfire "Three to Tango". This film is nicely cast, and standout performances are given by Sean Patrick Flanery, Joanne Whalley, and a brilliant Alexa Vega. Insertion of specific details relating to the final year of the war is not overdone, and the fairly complex plot is permitted to develop as a mirror of the players' emotions. Noteworthy is the amassing of detail that is essential to a drama showcasing a wide range of character interaction. In sum, a vital and scarcely known work.