Sometimes a Great Notion

Based on the novel by Ken Kesey, 1970's Sometimes a Great Notion tells the story of a family of rugged individualists living in Oregon lumber country. Flinty patriarch Henry Stamper (Henry Fonda) and his eldest son, Hank (Paul Newman), share a confrontational relationship with the world, which comes to a head during a logging strike. The Stampers continue to fulfill a timber contract, bringing them into direct conflict with the local community. Michael Sarrazin costars as Hank's younger half-brother, Leeland, who returns home after an extended absence, sporting long hair and maverick ideas about personal responsibility and equality, while Lee Remick is Hank's frustrated wife, Viv. Newman directs with a focus on the physicality of the Stampers' lives, from the hard work of logging in the Oregon hills to the rough-and-tumble play that often leads to brawling. The Stampers are not necessarily heroes—Henry seems to stir the pot for his own amusement (he's either the last of the frontier mavericks or an ornery old crank who rails against anyone telling him what to do)—but the tension between the Stampers' individualism and a sense of communal responsibility feels just as relevant today. Highlighting the rugged beauty of the Pacific Northwest, this low-key drama about a vanishing way of life—making its Blu-ray debut—is recommended. (S. Axmaker)