I have a soft spot in my heart for road movies that feature lovable losers surviving in the midst of the odds stacked against them. Or perhaps I find this subject matter a guilty pleasure. This genre of drama has been done before and Back Roads wasn't the last movie to do this, although most of them are buddy movies where we have two unlikely male protagonists: Thunderbolt and Lightfoot, Scarecrow, etc. Some films may have segments of this plot within their stories, but Back Roads is pretty much entirely set where our two main characters, Amy (a cheap hooker) and Elmore (A lowlife ex-prize fighter) are out on a lamb trying to make their way to California. Back Roads offers something more special than the usual buddy film for we are treated to the possibility of romance and a deep look into humanity.Whether you like this movie or not depends entirely on how much sympathy and love you can afford to our main characters. If there is anyone to ever be able to pull off this genteel and earnest feat, it would be Sally field. Yes, Sally Field had the girlish charm with her doll-like big eyes, her tiny figure and endearing pout. She is a hooker with a heart of gold who for some reason has fallen on the fringes of society due to unhealthy and bad life decisions. There was a time in Hollywood when a hooker's character was treated with much more scorn and shame. But at this time in cinema, the early 1980's, Hollywood cast a more fair light on these subjects while treating them with pity and more likability. It's true that prostitutes and low lives are more charming on screen than in real life and we accept this by our own consent. Strangely and perhaps intentionally, Back Roads was marketed as a screwball romantic comedy. What those few viewers saw on screen was a bit more sad and serious with some dark comedy intertwined. Tommie Lee Jones does well and the chemistry between him and Sally is correct. As much as they bicker, make up, break apart and get back together, it all seems so right if not predictable. We root for them. They are not the winners of society, but they win our hearts.The montage of Amy traveling alone on foot, on buses or hitching rides is accompanied by the melancholy ballad as we see our forlorn heroine looking defeated, blue and lonely. The director allows us to peer into her lonely and desperate soul. Tommie Lee is nothing more than a hapless bum who loses his job, but still has a chance to make a quick buck in a low stakes boxing ring. Sometimes love happens in the worst of circumstances and forces people to address what matters most whether it's from inner desperation or just the innate need for a partner. This is a humble tale of two drifters, who, through their personal journey, learn about love and the need for friendship.Some people may be turned off by the grubby lifestyle and the sleazy misadventures these two go through. We are treated to the seediness of the redneck south with all of its cheap diners, truck stops, motels and how it looks from a low-budget traveler's perspective. There is also some corny dialogue; "I've seen some squirrel's in my time, but you are at the top of the tree", exclaims Amy when she expresses her disapproval of Elmore's uncouth character. Typical dialogue of this era seems outdated, but it doesn't detract from the overall theme.The one downfall to this movie is that they couldn't construct a good ending, because the story doesn't really promise that these characters are going to strike it rich once they reach California. The movie simply ends as they stand there hitchhiking while making a poetic statement of how they accept themselves and their love for each other. What matters is not the outcome of their journey, but how they arrive at a personal state of self-acceptance. Movies like Back Roads endear us to the down and out losers. Their ill-fated lives are a not treated as a result of their ignoble character, but rather as a byproduct of their vulnerability and weaknesses.

I love Sally Field. She is real sexy in Back Roads. Her and Tommy Lee Jones share great chemistry together, they just may not have known it yet themselves. I remember that Field and Jones had on the set issues, probably because Tommy Lee was trying to come on to Sally off the set. Can't blame him. She's Gidget, The Flying Nun, and she's playing a hooker! More like though, she's Sally Field and she's smoking hot. Somebody cool her off. Sally Field always plays the kind of girl you can take home to momma. And it don't seem much different for her here in Back Roads. Listen boy, she ain't a whore, she is a hustler! This all might be just a fantasy in my head, but Tommy Lee Jones felt obligated to apologize to Sally years later for something he did while filming this with Sally. Probably a good thing, too. Here's a theory. Maybe all Tommy Lee Jones wanted at the time was a sweet girl like Sally, and perhaps all Sally Field ever wanted was a wild heart like Tommy, but neither one had the know-how to admit to it. Just a theory. Back Roads is so under appreciated and over analyzed. Just enjoy it. It takes place in the South and it's really down country home living and back road loving. Tommy Lee Jones and Sally field make a great couple on screen. That much is clear. I love these two guys. Jones is a pistol and Field is a firecracker. I'm deeply in love with them both, but mostly Sally. Yea, mostly Sally. Back Roads' theme song, 'Ask Me No Questions (I'll Tell You No Lies)', is a beautiful song and it fits the movie like a glove. Sally wears such pretty hair-dos. Sally Field is so damn purty, like you wouldn't believe. I love Back Roads. It's damn good.

Years ago, when the movie trailer ran on television, it was touted as a "wacky road comedy." SPOILER: They used this one scene where the two characters are trying to jump on a moving train and ultimately end up in a mud puddle. END OF SPOILER. Yes, that scene was funny in a slap-sticky kind of way, but it also set the audience up to expect a totally different movie. I didn't watch it at first; those two actors just didn't scream comic foils to me; eventually, it was on TV and I watched it expecting a comedy. I hated it! The grubby sadness of these characters' lives just didn't strike me as funny. Melancholy, seedy, frustrating--yes; Funny? No. Years pass. It's on TV again. I decide to watch it and forget that the ads and reviews and video stores place it in the comedy section. This time I liked the film so much better. I eventually got the DVD and have enjoyed it every time I've seen it. Don't get me wrong: It's no classic; but, if you expect a character study instead of romantic comedy, you might enjoy it more. Oh, and I'm embarrassed to confess that I even hated the theme song so much that I wondered if the singer got the job because she was related to the producer or something. Now,I realize the bittersweet lyrics and pleasant, but world-weary singing suit the movie perfectly. Again, if you're not expecting a comedy and can get modern movie themes' bombast out of your ears, it's another melancholy pleasure one can glean from this film.

Overlooked early 1980s film. The movie is a depressing look at two seedy characters trying to make it through life. The acting is solid and both Fields and Jones look the part of someone living on the edges of society. Jones is a two-bit club boxer with a reputation for losing. He comes across in a less then positive light, yet down deep, there's a heart of gold. Fields as a street hustler looks beat-up in this film. He rarely cracks a smile, and it's one of here meaty roles. However, the film is a somewhat depressing look at life, at least from the standpoint of street people. It's a fairly entertaining movie and if you're a fan of either Sally Fields or Tommy Lee Jones, then Back Roads is a film to see.