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Festivale online magazine, April 1998 A Thousand Acres movie review

A Thousand Acres This film is billed as King Lear in an American Gothic setting. Father (Jason Robards) is a big man in the county, the farmer who rules his land and daughters. Everyone knows and respects him, he goes to church, he gives advice, and he lives surrounded by his two daughters and his admiring neighbours. But all is not kindness and light, when he announces his decision to retire and grant his land to his daughters now, he disinherits his youngest daughter who doubts his wisdom.

Jessica Lange, Michelle Pfeiffer and Jennifer Jason Leigh Photograph: (C) ATA Films, Inc All Rights reserved

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Don't make me feel sorry for myself. The more pissed off I am the better I feel. ... We're not going to be sad. We're going to be angry until we die. A short period of retirement and not being the centre of all he surveys convinces dear old dad that his daughters are vicious bitches who have stolen from him and mistreated him, and he sets about convincing his now reconciled youngest daughter and the community at large that he is the victim of heartless, grasping, selfish, women. As the audience we see the reality of the two eldest daughters, played by Michelle Pfeiffer and Jessica Lange, and we learn that theirs was not an ideal childhood, and that they are innocent of their father's claims. And so it goes. Tragedy, we were taught at school, is the fall of a great one, brought down by a character flaw. Although the father deteriorates in this story, he escapes with his reputation intact and his victims unavenged and disbelieved. The ending is thus unsatisfying, with a whimpy excuse-making voiceover that denies any real growth in the characters.

	Ali Kayn For credits and official site details, click here. Search Festivale for more
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Enter movie, TV show, or person   Provided by Internet Movie Database.	Just the facts: Title: A Thousand Acres (1997) Written by: Laura Jones, based on a novel by Jane Smiley Directed by: Jocelyn Moorhouse  Produced by: Marc Abraham, Lynn Arost, Armyan Bernstein, Thomas A. Bliss, Steve Golin, Kate Guinzburg, Diana Pokorny, Sigurjon Sighvatsson  Edited by: Maryann Brandon Director of Photography: Tak Fujimoto
	The Players: Michelle Pfeiffer, Jessica Lange, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Colin Firth, Keith Carradine, Kevin Anderson, Pat Hingle, Jason Robards
	Official website
	For session times of current films, use the cinema listings on the Movie links page. For scheduled release dates, see the coming attractions section.

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