Far and Away (1992)

There’s just something about sprawling historical dramas that captivate audiences. We’re drawn to them like almost nothing else. Are we all secretly history buffs who take pleasure in seeing the hard times and details faced by those of yesteryear? Is it maybe because these films provide us with both the exotic and the familiar? Whatever the real answer is, Far and Away is one of those films that sucks you in with a little bit of everything and keeps you there quite nicely.

After his father’s funeral, Irish peasant Joseph Donnelly (Tom Cruise) witnesses the family home being burned by the lackeys of their landlord. Fed up with aristocratic oppression, Joseph sets out to kill his landlord but his plan goes awry and he is injured in his attempt. The landlord’s daughter Shannon (Nicole Kidman) is fascinated by the lively fellow and she saves him from a pistol duel with her suitor. They run away together, boarding a ship for America. Along the journey they learn of an upcoming land claim race in the Oklahoma Territory.

Their heads filled with dreams of land and prosperity, Joseph and Shannon encounter a rude awakening upon their arrival in Boston. Far from the land of opportunity they were expecting, America for Irish immigrants turns out to be a maze of hucksters, cheats and politics. Pretending to be brother and sister, the two fall in love as they struggle to survive in a cold, uncaring new world.

Does the current generation even know/remember that Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman were married for a whole decade? This fact certainly serves as a minor impetus for those of us in the know to check out any movie that they co-starred in as a romantic pairing (the same was probably true for audiences at the time). That may now be little more than a nostalgic factoid lost on future viewers but it is most certainly an intriguing behind-the-scenes thing to consider while watching this fanciful flick.

Far and Away really does have a little bit of everything, which is both good and bad. The period detail is really something but it does cross a few lines (what historical epics don’t though?) by not making enough of the costumes look truly lived in. Everyone likes a little romance but Joseph and Shannon’s antics border on soap opera cheesy at points. Then of course there’s the balance between a sprawling tale spanning an ocean and half of another continent and a Hollywood tale packed with a few too many lucky coincidences.

The acting really stands out as the driving force of the film. Do Cruise and Kidman go overboard now and then? Yes. But they give themselves so fully to their roles that you can’t help but believe in and desperately get behind these characters. Joseph and Shannon won’t go down as one of those iconic epic film couples but they have enough spunk and sass to make Far and Away a crowd pleaser.

The story is quite simple and predictable but this is an early entry in director Ron Howard’s serious stage as a filmmaker. The film has plenty of potential to devolve into a corny immigration comedy full of Irish stereotypes but Howard, having directed several screwball comedies before this, knows where to draw the line. He keeps the film fun and fresh when it’s called for and never lets it wallow in mood and harsh reality for too long.

Far and Away may not appeal to film snobs who only appreciate the utmost dramatic (which for some reason usually translates to depressing) and realistic historical epic tales. Rather than focusing on high-art cinema, he aims to make the kind of films that he grew up watching and loving. He is a movie lover’s director, plain and simple. What it lacks in staying power, this film makes up for in enjoyability.

RATING: 3.5 out of 5