Touches You

Fresh and Exciting

Captivating movie !

The storyline feels a little thin and moth-eaten in parts but this sequel is plenty of fun.

There are a lot of things wrong with this movie. First off, it is just silly. The acting, dialogue, nearly everything. The film doesn't even do a good just of presenting history correctly. It starts off by claiming a greedy Irish upperclass are unfairly charging high rents and that is causing conflict. What the film doesn't tell you is that those people are not even Irish. They were English settlers who stole land with the help of England and made the lives of the actual Irish people a living heck. So that rich vs poor thing is a bunch of hogwash from the get go. This review is long enough, the film is annoying goofy. Maybe the accents were so bad that it made the whole production set stop caring about making a respectable film. Who know?

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.

In 1892 western Ireland, tenant farmers are rebelling. Joseph Donnelly (Tom Cruise) loses his father during an incident with the landlord. Their home is burnt for overdue rent. He seeks revenge on landlord Daniel Christie (Robert Prosky) but his gun explodes. The landlord's daughter Shannon Christie (Nicole Kidman) wants to be Modern and get 160 acres of free land in America. She grabs Joseph from a pistol duel with the cruel henchman Stephen Chase (Thomas Gibson). She takes him on as her man servant on the journey. They find out the land is in Oklahoma, but she loses all her valuable spoons in Boston. They are penniless as they meet the ward boss Mike Kelly (Colm Meaney). He gains some worth as a bare knuckle boxer. Meanwhile a mob burns down the Christies mansion and they travel to America to follow Shannon. Eventually it ends in the great race to claim land in the Oklahoma Territories.The movie is beautifully shot by director Ron Howard. However the story is convenient and simplistic. It's as if Ron Howard wanted to check all the boxes of the era for the Irish. Everything feels manufactured. There isn't a real moment in the movie especially the pairing of Kidman and Cruise. There is no subtlety in their performance or the romance. It's not as problematic the first time around but it really annoys me with more viewings.

Far and Away is a beautiful film that was executed perfectly by Ron Howard who co-wrote a brilliant screenplay about Irish immigrants searching for a better life in America due to the oppression they had to endure at the hands of greedy landlords in the late 1890's. Joseph Donnelly - played by Tom Cruise in one of his unforgettable roles - is a poor farmer with ambitions of having his own land, he seeks revenge after his father dies as result of a riot initiated by the tenants against the rich land owners. He flees Ireland with the help of a spoiled rich girl who has dreams of owning her own land in the Oklahoma territory. Both Joseph and Shannon experience the hardships of achieving their dreams in a distant country as they rely on each other for survival while living in Boston where Joseph earns his living as a boxing champion. The love story and the grand race are perfect elements in this epic movie.