Far and Away (1992)

VHS CASE/SIDE

Length of film:  140 Minutes (Extended Cut: 170 Minutes)

Rated: 12

Genre: Adventure, Drama, Romance

Director: Ron Howard

Starring: Tom Cruise, Nicole Kidman, Thomas Gibson, Robert Prosky, Barbara Babcock, Cyril Cusack, Eileen Pollock, Colin Meaney

IMDB Rank: 6.6/10

Part 1 Time:  91 Minutes (Extended Cut: N/A Minutes)

Part 2 Time:  49 Minutes (Extended Cut: N/A Minutes)

Where does the first part end? Joseph Donnelly (Tom Cruise) and Shannon Christie (Nicole Kidman) are thrown out into the streets by Irish ward boss Mike Kelly (Colm Meaney).

Final line of dialogue on the first part: “These two are banished, you shelter them even one night, I will shut this hoare house down, come on,” yells Mike Kelly.

First line of dialogue on the second part: After days of living on the streets Shannon and Joseph continue to look for work and shelter. Shannon states to Joseph, “It’s too cold Joseph”

How jarring is it when the first part ends? Jarring, it is now late fall early winter in Boston. Shannon and Joseph have been thrown out into the streets and do not have jobs. Joseph’s American dream of owning his own land looks increasingly more bleak.

Which part is better? The film’s plot revolves around the great migration of settlers searching for new land in the United States and the struggles they face. Both Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman do an outstanding job perfecting the Irish accent of the characters they portray and are quite convincing. The first half of the film takes place in a rural area of Ireland and then on to Boston in the United States. The second half travels to the state of Oklahoma in the central United States, where the largest ever land run took place in 1893. Due the excitement and historical relevance of the 1893 land run, part two is given the slight advantage and is a must see for movie goers wanting to experience the chaos of this once in a lifetime event.

Academy Awards: None