A Thousand Acres
What Do I Think of ...?
The story: The story is told in a straightforward narrative, with very little use of flashbacks and other storytelling techniques. The patriarch of the Cook family decided to divide his land to his three daughters (which became 2 after a misunderstanding with his youngest daughter). That impulsive decision opened up the repressed conflicts the family had in the past. The only fully realized and fleshed out characters in the movie were rightfully Rose and Ginny (played by Pfeiffer and Lange respectively). Individually and together they moved the story along. The only supporting character to have an adequate amount of development was Larry Cook (Jason Robards), even though you don't agree and wholeheartedly detest his behavior, you somehow understand where he's coming from. Sadly the supporting characters were never developed enough. The third sister, Caroline never really hit her stride. She was marginalized in the story and was not given enough material to say what her character is about. When she took the side of her dad not knowing how her sisters protected her from being abused the way he did to them, I won't deny that there was some power in it, but not enough for the audience to fully grasp the irony of her actions. The two husbands had some moments but never really asserted their relevance in the movie. But the most underdeveloped character of all was Jess (played by Colin Firth). I honestly don't see the significance of this character. He slept with both Rose and Ginny yet it didn't elicit enough tension or conflict between the sisters. That could've open up a new plot instead it became a useless subplot. Jess disappeared in the movie towards the end without any sizable reason for the character's existence. Even though this is a character driven movie, there are enough plots to keep the story moving.
The performance: Michelle Pfeiffer gave a tour de force performance. She was in so many award worthy scenes it's really disappointing she wasn't nominated for an Academy Award for this role. She provided the kinds of scenes you would often see in a clip when an actor is nominated for an Oscar. But personally the most memorable of all those great scenes was when she and Ginny won the case regarding the land. Her father started to show signs of mental disability (Alzheimer? senility? old age?) which was painful for Rose because she wanted her dad to feel his defeat. And when she said "YOU LOST" to her dad with such raw and primal anger and desperation, in that few seconds Pfeiffer made the audience feel every pain in her heart. I love that scene, that alone could've landed her a deserved Academy Award.
The character: This is one of Pfeiffer's most emotionally demanding role. Most of her scenes involve confrontations, painful recollections of her pasts, and poignant as well as intense moments with the other major character in the movie played by Lange. Rose Cook Lewis is an angry, embittered, pragmatic, and ultimately tragic character. She found comfort in the anger in her heart and she had no intention of giving that up. Up to the very last of her breath, she spoke of anger and she considered it her sole accomplishment in life, that she "didn't forgive the unforgivable". I find Rose a very fascinating character. It was heartbreaking to watch the character became the desperate woman that she has become. All she ever wanted was accountability and acknowledgment of the things his dad did to her. And the tragic thing was that in the end she came off as the villain. Nobody believed her when she announced to her town that she was molested by her father and most important of all, she never had the chance to make his father realized what he'd done to her. Rose is a broken character, and what's even sadder is that she's the only one who seems to know it. She was robbed of that one "closure" that she desperately needed to once and for all get out of her past.
The costars: Jessica Lange also gave a topnotch performance. I was deeply moved by the simplicity and truthfulness of her interpretation of Ginny. Lange and Pfeiffer's tandem was a force to be reckon with. Out of the many award worthy scenes of Lange in the movie, the best scene of all was the scene where Rose, for the first time, told Ginny about their father molesting them when they were young. Lange heartbreakingly combined shock, helplessness, denial, pain, as well as compassion for Rose in that memorable scene. How she failed to get an Oscar nomination for this role is beyond me. The other key role in the movie was played by the late Jason Robards as the patriarch of the Cook family. He created a character that is despicable but never caricature.
Notes, Observations, Questions Etc.
This is one of the instances when a Pfeiffer costar gets a higher billing is fine with me. Because Jessica Lange had a relatively longer screen time not to mention she was also the narrator in the movie, she's an Oscar winner, and she started her career earlier than Pfeiffer. Pfeiffer getting the top billing probably had something to do with her double duty as the star and producer of the movie.
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