Showered with accolades upon release, Robert Benton's "Places in the Heart" (1984) stars Sally Field as Edna Spalding, a Texan widow who tries to save the family farm during the Great Depression.The 1980s saw the release of a number of "women's pictures", most of which were influenced by second-wave feminism, and most of which saw strong women struggling to either beat the odds or triumph against hordes of mean, nasty men. For a number of years, Sally Field was at the forefront of such movies. Like her role in 1979's "Norma Rae", Field's Spalding is a woman who's constantly belittled, conned and taken advantage of. Talent and tenacity eventually win the day, though, little miss Spalding proving all her doubters wrong."Places in the Heart" features fine production design, Benton and his crew creating a nice portrait of life in 1930s Texas. Joining Spalding on her adventure are two other down-on-their-luck characters, a handicapped man played by John Malkovich and an African American drifter, Moze, played by Danny Glover. As is typical of Benton's films, the trio form a surrogate community, a band of beautiful losers who help each other out."Places in the Heart" closes at a church ceremony, in which the dead and the living congregate. "Charity never faileth," a Bible passage informs us, before the film pushes towards its bittersweet ending. Spalding may keep her farm, but her triumphs are tainted.Though a fine picture, "Heart" sports a dull subplot involving Edna's adulterous relatives. And though it overturns several Magical Negro clichés, Benton falters terribly in his last act. Here, via a contrived series of events, Moze is rushed out of Benton's picture, all so as Edna may stand on her own two feet. "Heart" would earn Field an Academy Award.7.9/10 – Other good, Depression Era films: "Bound for Glory", "Grapes of Wrath", "Paper Moon", "Modern Times", Wyler's "Dead End", Kazan's "Wild River", "I am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang", "Little Man, What Now?", Altman's "Thieves Like Us", "King of the Hill" (1993), "Cradle Will Rock" (1999), William Wellman's "Wild Boys on the Road" and "The Public Enemy", King Vidor's "Our Daily Bread", "Gold Diggers" (1933), "Sullivan's Travels" and Linklater's "The Newton Boys".

There's a super sweetness to "Places in the Heart," but it wears it well. The characters all have little failings, but nothing that can't be quickly overcome in the space of a tender, touching moment. Though many scenes walk right up to the line, they stop short of turning that well-earned tenderness into cloying sentimentality.The young, cherub-cheeked widow played by Sally Field is can-do-ism personified, and is perhaps more racially tolerant than the norm for 1930s Texas, especially considering that her husband has just been killed by a drunk, black youth. But the movie sells us on the idea that she has bigger problems to worry about than racial politics or even personal loss. The Depression is palpable throughout the movie, and it reshapes her life almost overnight. A neighbor is living in a car, paint on a nearby abandoned house says "Gone to California," and now, with the death of the family breadwinner, Field's character also appears to be headed for bust. Worse, she may lose custody of her two children. With no time to mourn, she has to take in a surly boarder (John Malkovich, thoroughly believable as the blind WWI veteran) and hire a black man who previously stole from her (Danny Glover) in a desperate attempt to stay afloat. If it seems all too predictable that her headstrong determination and positive spirit will prevail, that her worldly-wise black field hand will prove his worth, and that the bottled-up boarder will grudgingly reveal his sensitive side, well... it wears it well. Perhaps these characters should be thought of in the way that many of us like to think of our grandparents and great-grandparents: a little idealized in our minds, perhaps, but people who we believe were fundamentally good and who lived through difficult and transformative years in our history as soldiers, laborers, school children, and housewives. The final scene in the movie is a creative tracking shot that emphasizes the oneness of this diverse, often fragmented and antagonistic, yet familiar community that we have come to know. It is not just a Texas community, but an American one.It is hard to say what a slow-boiling side plot about marital infidelity, featuring a young and inscrutable Ed Harris, adds to the movie. There may be some thematic connection to a frightening sequence of a literally home-wrecking tornado. Or maybe it is a way to provide additional color by making the supporting characters flawed and allowing the main ones to remain only nominally imperfect. In any case, this B-plot is not very creatively rendered, and it takes time away from the Malkovich and Glover characters whose private lives would surely be far more interesting but are too seldom seen. This shortcoming, though, does not prevent the main plot from being as affirming and moving as it strives to be.

The first time through, you think you've seen Places In The Heart before, this meager drama of pathos set in a simpler time. Sure, it's acted by a prestigious ensemble. And yes, the story it tells is nothing if not respectable. But even the title is generic and sentimental, like any number of Hallmark TV movies. Sally Field's acceptance speech for her (deserved) Oscar win is better remembered today than the movie itself.At its most powerful, film juxtaposes images to create ideas in the mind of the audience. By this measure, the last shot of Places In The Heart is among the most transformative in all of movies. Taken out of context, it has no significance, and yet is so startling and unexpected —while at the same time so gentle and so much in keeping with all that's come before it— that it might first be confusing. It's one of the greatest shots in movies, because it re-contextualizes all that comes before it.What writer-director Robert Benton aims at and finally accomplishes in Places In The Heart is so beautiful that the movie transcends its origins as a period piece to become a picture of nothing less than the kingdom of heaven.

Scene after scene delights in this tale of tragedy and the strength of the human spirit. Writer-director Robert Benton handles the drama superbly and realistically (once again showing his expertise as he did with "Kramer vs. Kramer"); the cast members do likewise. "Places in the Heart" is a great tear-jerker that will also make you smile, many times. A must see film about human triumph over disaster.Sally Field earned a well-deserved Oscar as she delivered a great performance along with Danny Glover as Moses and John Malkovich as Mr. Will. "Places in the Heart" was nominated for seven Oscars in total, including Best Picture. Along with Sally Field, Robert Benton got the nod for his fine original screenplay.Tuesday, November 26, 1991 - VideoOne of the best dramas of our time. This magnificent film never fails to stir the emotions. The whole cast is brilliant, as is Robert Benton's direction. Great cinema.Monday, April 20, 1992 - Video