Shannon is a very upper class lady in Ireland with her controlling mother who wishes her to marry a snobbish land owner, Stephen. Joesph is a farm boy who has just lost his father and his home has been burned by Stephen, Shannon's father owns the land, so Joesph goes to kill him, but fails. His punishment is a duel, but he and Shannon see each other and have an instant connection but won't admit it of course, but Shannon offers for him to come with her to America to claim some land with her. He accepts her offer and goes with her. They claim to be brother and sister to survive, but soon they can no longer resist each other's love, but their family may be too strong to let them be together when Shannon's family comes to get her in America.Far and Away is a very charming film that I'm sure you will be impressed with. It's just a very romantic film, has fun comedy to it, good drama, and has terrific pictures and sights. Ron Howard is just a fine director, he got the whole feel of the old days and that race for land at the end was just shot so beautifully. Tom and Nicole did a great job, they were so beautiful to watch and made this into a great film. I highly recommend this movie, I think you'll love it.

I remember seeing this years ago and really enjoying it, this time around not so much. Its okay, entertaining. The accents (with just about everyone concerned) are terrible and the plot does get a bit overblown and silly at times, actually the whole tone of this movie was a bit silly which I don't remember from before.Despite it all though, still an enjoyable enough movie. Episodic in its western frontier telling, with many adventures, decent period details and some grand scenes i.e. the land rush which is shot on a huge scale with hundreds of extras, horses and wagons and stunts galore.Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman do a decent enough job with their roles, not much chemistry though for an (at the time) real life couple. I enjoyed Tom in some of the boxing scenes and Robert Prosky was lovely as Shannon's Da.The story follows an impoverished 1893 Irish tenant farmer who has recently lost his home and his father. Through a series of somewhat witty events he runs off to America with his spirited landlords daughter. They arrive in Boston with barely more than the shirts on their backs, pose as brother and sister (while falling in love) and struggle for the American dream, which in this case also includes joining the Oklahoma land rush. 9/23/15

Directed by Ron Howard (Splash, Apollo 13, Ransom, A Beautiful Mind, The Da Vinci Code), I knew this film had mixed or negative reviews, it was rated two out of five stars, but I was willing to give it a chance. Basically set in 1893 Ireland, following the death of his father, young Irish man Joseph Donnelly (Tom Cruise) is facing property eviction, and he wants to get revenge on his landlord Daniel Christie (Mrs. Doubtfire's Robert Prosky). However in his attempt to kill Christie, Joseph is injured and sentenced to a duel against Christie's arrogant manager Stephen Chase (Thomas Gibson), meanwhile Christie's daughter Shannon (Nicole Kidman) is growing dissatisfied with her parents' generation of traditional views and longs to be modern. Shannon makes her plans to leave for the United States of America, and Joseph escapes with her, they arrive together in Boston, find jobs and begin saving money. Joseph makes money becoming a local bare-knuckle fighter, while Shannon works in a chicken processing plant and as a social club dancer, all is well until all their money is taken away after Joseph loses a boxing match. Joseph and Shannon are left starving in the cold of winter, Shannon's parents meanwhile leave Ireland to join her, they are facing a devastating loss, Chase joins them, he was leading a search to find Shannon, but Joseph brings her to them following an accident. To make money Joseph works on a railroad after heading west, but in a dream sequence he sees his father reminding and confronting him of his desire to own land, so he joins the wagon trains and arrives in Oklahoma Territory. Joseph is just in time for the Land Run of 1893, aka the Cherokee Strip Land Run, a chance for more than 10,000 to claim land, his fate lie in his participation, Shannon is also joining the ride and willing to help Joseph plant the flag that will ultimately claim the land he finds. Also starring Barbara Babcock as Nora Christie, Cyril Cusack as Danty Duff, Colm Meaney as Kelly, Bread's Eileen Pollock as Molly Kay, Michelle Johnson as Grace, Wayne Grace as Bourke, Douglas Gillison as Dermody, Niall Toibin as Joe, Barry McGovern as McGuire, Gary Lee Davis as Gordon, Jared Harris as Paddy, So What Now's Steven O'Donnell as Colm, Clint Howard, Ron's brother as Flynn, Brendan Gleeson as Social Club Policeman, Rance Howard, Ron's father as Tomlin and Father Ted's Pauline McLynn as Prostitute. Cruise and Kidman do their best to put on Irish accents, but only make it sound cartoonish, at least their performances are reasonable, and being married at the time their relationship is convincing, the love story between them is fine, but the memorable moments are the fights, the horse and cart rides, and of course the big sweeping riding across the Irish plains, the ending where Cruise looks dead for a moment and waking again is ridiculous, but once the credits role the great song "Book of Days" by Irish singer Enya rescues it, it is a slightly naff and stereotypical film, but as a whole it's not a bad romantic period adventure drama. Okay!

The film "Far and Away"(1992) gives audiences the opportunity to watch a well constructed, entertaining romance. It offers content suitable for everyone in the family. Although a few scenes do depict violence, the movie flows well based upon strong characterizations, and the confrontations which do occur move the story forward at a rapid pace. Probably even young children will enjoy this wonderful movie."Far and Away" offers some very beautiful, scenic backgrounds. These panoramas lend an element of interest also to events. The historical drama unfolds during an era of turbulent growth in many parts of the United States. The interactions among the central characters resonate with this influence. The beginning and ending scenes provide a unifying theme running through the entire production. If you are seeking an enjoyable family film-- this may be the right choice!