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The Field Details

1990 DVD Certificate 15.gif
  • Rated:
  • 60
  • from 632 members

Based on a play by John B. Keane, THE FIELD tells the story of Bull McCabe (Richard Harris), a tradition-bound Irishman who fights to retain the land that his family has been farming for generations. McCabe, who rents the land from a young widow (Frances Tomelty), hopes to take full possession of it when the widow puts it up .. Read more

Starring Richard Harris, Tom Berenger, John Hurt, Brenda Fricker
Director Jim Sheridan
Genres Drama

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The Field

Based on a play by John B. Keane, THE FIELD tells the story of Bull McCabe (Richard Harris), a tradition-bound Irishman who fights to retain the land that his family has been farming for generations. McCabe, who rents the land from a young widow (Frances Tomelty), hopes to take full possession of it when the widow puts it up for auction. None of the villagers try to oppose the fearsome McCabe, but a smooth-talking young Irish American utilities developer (Tom Berenger) attempts to outbid him, shocking the entire village and igniting a tense battle between the two men. As the battle builds toward deadly consequences it threatens to jar loose the McCabe family's dark, painful secret--one that's kept Bull's wife (Brenda Fricker) from talking to him for 18 years.
Director Jim Sheridan (IN THE NAME OF THE FATHER, MY LEFT FOOT) coaxes brilliant performances from the cast, most notably Berenger, John Hurt as a local simpleton in a brilliant and devastating characterization, and Harris, who earned an Academy Award nomination for his astonishing portrayal of McCabe, one that elevates THE FIELD into the rarified air of Shakespearean tragedy.

Starring Richard Harris, Tom Berenger, John Hurt, Brenda Fricker, Sean Bean, Frances Tomelty
Director Jim Sheridan
Studio CINEMA CLUB
Run time DVD: 1 hr 46 mins
Certificate DVD Certificate 15.gif
Genres Drama
Language English
Subtitles None
Released DVD: not available
Production year: 1990
Format DVD
  • Critics' reviews (3) of The Field

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  • 3 stars out of 5

    Critics and audiences alike were rather underwhelmed by Jim Sheridan's follow-up to the phenomenally successful My Left Foot. The writer/director's attempt to create a rural drama akin to those premiered in the heyday of Dublin's Abbey Theatre results only in an overbrewed poteen that intoxicates only to leave you with a thick head and dulled senses. Richard Harris received an Oscar nomination for his imposing performance as the grouchy farmer fighting to save “his” land, but it is the understated playing of John Hurt and Brenda Fricker that provides the real backbone of this handsome, arresting production.

    • Radio Times
  • John B Keane's play takes on some of the resonances of an Irish Lear in Jim Sheridan's adaptation. West Coast tenant... read more on Time Out

    • Time Out
  • Most helpful member's review of The Field

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  • 10 out of 10 people found this review helpful

    Rated - 5 stars

    Awesome

    When a friend recommended this film to me I was slightly dubious.

    Nutshell version of the plot is as follows; Grumpy old man gets all uppity about a field in rural Ireland.

    Based on this I was thinking that it sounded more like a badly conceived episode of Ballykissangel than Oscar material.

    How wrong I was! Richard Harris gives possibly the best acting performance I have EVER seen in what is an emotional powerhouse of a film. Supported by a superb cast (including among others John Hurt, Sean Bean, Branda Fricker and Tom Berenger) it tells the story of The Bull (Harris), a brooding collosus of a man whose life work is the field he nurtures.

    The passion and energy Harris puts into this role is literally breathtaking and I can't remember being so moved by a film since the black rabbit appeared at the end of Watership Down (come on admit it, you cried as well!).

    So trust me, look beyond the cover and discover a true gem.

      • rodneytrotbags from Newcastle upon Tyne
  • Most recent members' review of The Field

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  • 2 out of 2 people found this review helpful

    Rated - 3 stars

    I loved it

    I loved this film as I have not seen it before I mean to say it's about a field! (Though not necessarily) Thats why I did not want to see it when it first came out, well im more cultivated now if thats the right word and certainly more open minded.

    Ok now... its a good film and I love Richard Harris as an actor, he brings to this role like other films a great sense of character that only he could play. Hes a bad tempered man but hay you either love him or hate him right? And I cannot put my finger on his sense of character maybe its an Irish thing, yes that must be it an Irish temperment, I'm trying to keep this as PC as possible ya know as theirs a thin line nowadays. The film is filled with tragedy, not as in steps the x band tragedy but human tragedy you can feel for the character in the end that Richard Harris plays.

    Don't want to spoil it for you if you like your Drama rent this film today..

      • philphull from Co. Antrim
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Rating breakdown

632 Member ratings
  • 100
61
  • 90
54
  • 80
98
  • 70
100
  • 60
137
  • 50
73
  • 40
43
  • 30
27
  • 20
26
  • 10
13

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