Places in the Heart

Viewers who would like to see the difference between an authentic period piece and meticulously fake Hollywood fluff need only compare the busy but absolutely staged-looking set designs on Michael Bay's Pearl Harbor with the deceptively effortless recreation of Depression-era Texas in Robert Benton's luminous paean to his childhood home, 1984's Places in the Heart. Best Actress winner Sally Field stars as Edna Spalding, suddenly widowed mother of two, who will lose her house if she cannot pull off a mad scheme to bring in the first cotton harvest of the season with the physical and spiritual help of her two new boarders, skilled field hand Moze (Danny Glover) and rent-paying blind man Mr. Will (John Malkovich). Interwoven through the main narrative thread are compelling subplots involving an adulterous triangle involving Ed Harris and Amy Madigan, racial tensions between local bigots and Moze, and a terrible twister that reminds both the inhabitants and the viewer of the primacy of place--the power of geography to give and take and ultimately shape our lives. While the transfer is decent without being exceptional, and the DVD is thin on extras (but is presented in both widescreen and full frame), this deserves a wider audience and is highly recommended. (R. Pitman)