Common Sense Note
Parents should know that while there's no sex in this film, there's considerable fist fighting, violence, and death. Several characters, including main characters, are shot, crushed, and beaten bloody. There's also considerable sexual innuendo about Joseph's virility and machismo. Characters are defined by their class and ethnicity and often exploited. There's also a subtext of the westward expansion in which the government stole land from Native Americans.
Families can talk about the westward expansion, the concept of "manifest destiny," and what else happened as a result of the Oklahoma purchase: the Trail of Tears. It's also a good opportunity for families to talk about how their relatives and ancestors immigrated to the U.S. and what barriers and challenges they faced. How different is it now for immigrants than it was for Joseph and Shannon? Is class still as important as it was then?
Common Sense Review
Reviewed By: Heather Boerner
Ron Howard is known for three things: Opie, Happy Days, and directing schmaltzy, dramatic films. In FAR AND AWAY, Howard teams up with the overearnest Tom Cruise and delicate-looking Nicole Kidman to bring us an epic vision of the Westward expansion, Western ingenuity, and destiny.
The destiny here is, of course, Manifest Destiny -- the idea that the U.S. was fated to spread from its small colonies on the East Coast to the Pacific Ocean. But the personal tale of destiny belongs to Cruise's Joseph, an Irish tenant farmer and the runt of his family. He's bullied and picked on and has big dreams. On his deathbed (hello schmaltz), Joseph's father all but orders him to get some land to prove his virility: "Without land, a man is nothing. Land is a man's very own soul. America," he gasps, "that's what you're looking for." After a long and convoluted trip to his landlord's house to avenge his father's death, the landlord's daughter Shannon (Kidman) inexplicably whisks Joseph away with her to America, both dreaming of owning land on the western frontier of Oklahoma.
It doesn't have to make sense. Just go with it. It's all fate. They're fated to be together -- though we know it long before they admit it. Joseph is fated to own land. Shannon is fated to be a "modern" woman. Along the way, they face challenges to their physical, emotional, and spiritual health from people who exploit them, steal from them, and chase them.
Far and Away has all the markings of an epic, even a race -- with covered wagons. But this land-grab scene with horses and wagons toppling over one another is unintentionally hilarious. With a two hour and 20 minute running time, you'll be glad to have something to smile about in this intriguing but plodding movie.
People who enjoy this film might like Gangs of New York, Goodfellas, and Dances With Wolves.
Rate It!
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Sexual ContentShannon and Joseph kiss and Joseph imagines disrobing her, but there's no sex. Lots of sexual innuendo, including comments about men having sex with goats and men leaving women "pulling up [their] knickers." Joseph appears naked in a bed with only a bowl over his genitals. Shannon peeks under it twice. Shannon and Joseph live in a whorehouse. |
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ViolenceConsiderable violence, including several fistfights, a few riots, and several boxing matches where contestants, including Joseph, end up bloodied. Joseph's father dies after being hit. Joseph attempts several times to shoot Mr. Christie. Shannon stabs Joseph in the thigh with a pitchfork. Shannon gets shot in the shoulder. There are several scenes of men being trampled by horses and of covered wagons overturning. Joseph gets severely injured by a horse. A man is shot and killed at point-blank range. Joseph punches his horse. |
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LanguageSome salty language, including "hell," "bastard," "ass," "son of a bitch," "pissing," "tits," and "goddamn." |
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Social BehaviorThere's talk of racism, and Shannon and her family treat Joseph as a second-class citizen because he's poor. People exploit both Shannon and Joseph, and Shannon gets harassed by her boss. When they're homeless, Shannon and Joseph break into a house for warmth. |
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Drug/Alcohol/TobaccoConsiderable drinking, and Joseph and Shannon are both shown very drunk at different points. |
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