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A Thousand Acres
1997
A THOUSAND ACRES, director Jocelyn Moorhouse's screen adaptation of Jane Smiley's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, finds skeins of KING LEAR-like conflict running through the bedrock of a midwestern family. Jason Robards stars as Larry Cook, a powerful, stoic Iowa farmer who decides to retire and split his 1,000 acres of land .. Read more
| Starring | Jessica Lange, Michelle Pfeiffer, Kevin Anderson, Jennifer Jason Leigh |
|---|---|
| Director | Jocelyn Moorhouse |
| Genres | Drama |
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A Thousand Acres
A THOUSAND ACRES, director Jocelyn Moorhouse's screen adaptation of Jane Smiley's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, finds skeins of KING LEAR-like conflict running through the bedrock of a midwestern family. Jason Robards stars as Larry Cook, a powerful, stoic Iowa farmer who decides to retire and split his 1,000 acres of land among his three daughters. His two eldest daughters, Rose (Michelle Pfeiffer) and Ginny (Jessica Lange), live and work on the farm and happily accept the lucrative agreement, while the youngest, Larry's favorite, Caroline (Jennifer Jason Leigh), has abandoned farming life for a law career in Des Moines and refuses to take part in the deal. Initially, Larry is consumed with rage and shuts out Caroline while Rose and Ginny go about running the farm with their dutiful but greedy husbands. However, as Larry begins to lose touch with his farming life, he loses touch with reality, and his painful descent into madness leaves him bitterly opposed to his daughters' ways of running the farm. Paranoid and disillusioned, he decides to sue Rose and Ginny with Caroline's help in an effort to regain his patriarchal control. The lawsuit divides the family forever, leaving Rose and Ginny to suffer alone while realising painful memories from their childhood. As Rose and Ginny discover their own individual strengths in the face of adversity, they learn how to survive on their own, without the protection of the farm and the suffocating presence of their father. Moorhouse's film is an epic tale of loss and redemption that highlights strong and earthy performances from Pfeiffer and Lange.
| Starring | Jessica Lange, Michelle Pfeiffer, Kevin Anderson, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Pat Hingle, Colin Firth, Jason Robards, Keith Carradine, Michelle Williams, Kevin A |
|---|---|
| Director | Jocelyn Moorhouse |
| Studio | UNIVERSAL PICTURES UK |
| Run time | DVD: 1 hr 41 mins |
| Certificate |  |
| Genres | Drama |
| Language | DVD: English |
| Released | Production year: 1997 To Rent: DVD: 06 Mar 2006 |
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Critic's review
View all critics' reviews (4) -
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A variation on King Lear, set in America's Midwest, this is no more than a melodramatic soap opera that muddles and muddies not only Shakespeare's play, but also Smiley's novel.
- 39122
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- Halliwell's Film Guide
- 02 Mar 2006 at 15:46
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Most helpful member's review
View all members' reviews (11) -
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- 2
- 0
An everyday story of country folk!
Having read Jane Smiley's book, we knew we were in for a melodrama!
I'll not do a resume of the plot as the Radio Times film guide covers it ... read more » - 222870
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[Highly rated reviewer]
- crispin40
- 530 reviews
- Stirling, Scotland
- 22 Mar 2006 at 21:56
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Most recent members' reviews
View all members' reviews (11) -
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- 1
- 0
A good film..
A great film about the dysfunctional life of those in the mid-west. Not fantastic but the actors do bring such character to their roles it is hard not to fall ... read more »
- 1028193
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- MLC
- 39 reviews
- BFPO
- 12 Aug 2011 at 09:21
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- 0
- 0
A daring and triumphant take on Shakespeare.
A director who takes the King Lear theme and transfers it to a modern American setting is asking for trouble: this one doesn’t get it. On the contrary, ... read more »
- 984487
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- Antiquary
- 52 reviews
- Aberdeen
- 20 Apr 2011 at 10:33
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- 0
- 0
WEAK ADAPTATION
Well-written movie undercut by weak and inconsistent performances and somewhat perfunctory plotting. The melodrama does not grab ones emotional attention as ... read more »
- 974365
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- a customer
- TUNBRIDGE WELLS, ENGLAND
- 19 Mar 2011 at 10:59
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News and features
View all
Chell Shock: The Return of Michelle Pfeiffer
- 15 Oct 2007
Who knew a comeback was on the cards? The last time anybody checked, Michelle Pfeiffer was an A-list star, commanding around $10 million a picture, topping People magazine's 50 Most Beautiful People list (her sixth and final appearance was in 1999). Then she just faded from view, so quietly it took a while for anyone to notice. But five years is a long time in the career of an A-list movie star, more so if the star in question is also a woman. That's how long it's been since we've seen... Read more
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A Thousand Acres
A THOUSAND ACRES, director Jocelyn Moorhouse's screen adaptation of Jane Smiley's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, finds skeins of KING LEAR-like conflict running through the bedrock of a midwestern family. Jason Robards stars as Larry Cook, a powerful, stoic Iowa farmer who decides to retire and ...
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