Yawn. Poorly Filmed Snooze Fest.

Save your money for something good and enjoyable

The first must-see film of the year.

It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.

The Field is the second film directed by Jim Sheridan and falls among his brilliant early works such as My Left Foot and In the Name of the Father. The film, based on a play by John B. Keane, takes place in an Irish village in 1920s. It focuses on the life of "Bull McCabe" and his efforts to buy the field that he works on. His family has lived for generations in this village and he wants to leave the field as his legacy to his son, and his son after him, and so on. As a hardworking and honest man, we come to admire him. But things take a turn for worse when the field becomes more important than anything for him, even more important than himself. And he fights fiercely to get the field, without considering what this fight might cost him and his family. His traditional thinking is also challenged by the appearance of a rich American, who has returned to him homeland to buy the lands and begin a major industry there.Richard Harris, who plays Bull McCabe, was nominated for an Oscar while John Hurt was also nominated for BAFTA for playing "Bird" in the film.

Having just directed "My Left Foot", Jim Sheridan directed "The Field", an adaptation of John B. Keane's 1965 play about a tough farmer trying to hold on to the land that he rents in 1930s Ireland. Richard Harris's Bull McCabe is a real bull in every sense; he's almost not the sort of person who should even have a family. When an American businessman (Tom Berenger) tries to buy the land, Bull takes drastic measures. Much of the story revolves around what we find out about what happened in Bull's family.At times, "The Field" is an unpleasant movie to watch. Of course, that shows what a good movie it is. We see the hardships faced by the Irish (while hearing stories of the Potato Famine) and also get to see some great shots of the Emerald Isle's countryside. This is one movie that I highly recommend.Also starring Sean Bean (Boromir in the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy), John Hurt, Brenda Fricker (Mrs. Brown in "My Left Foot"), Frances Tomelty (Sting's first wife), and brief appearances by Brendan Gleeson and Malachy McCourt (the brother of "Angela's Ashes" author Frank McCourt).

I simply don't like cultural stereotypes -- it's lazy and emotionally stunted thinking. While we are given many extrapolations about the Irish (I'll leave it to the Irish to interpret them), we have a galling stereotype of an American. It's no more "right" than the stereotypes of the Irish seen in some Hollywood films (as a UK reviewer observed). You're insulting my people -- something that isn't right no matter whose people are being insulted. But then one person's bigotry is another's righteous opinion, it would seem.The film itself is about a half hour too long. Harris is wonderful but then he's always wonderful. The themes and ideas I'll leave to the Irish to judge.Now enjoy clicking "No" to the review.

Tenant farmers in Ireland and their problems accounts for some of the great political movements in that country. So it was interesting to learn that in The Field those problems have not gone away even though it's not British who are absentee landlords.Shot mostly in County Galway in Ireland, The Field certainly has the look and feel of The Quiet Man, but it's hardly in the same lighthearted spirit. In fact the priest in this film functions more like Karl Malden's priest of the docks in On The Waterfront.Richard Harris has been a tenant farmer working the land for widow Frances Tomelty for years and has raised his family there. It's pretty much accepted by the villagers that it's Harris's land by right of sweat so when the widow wants to sell no one bids against him except Harris's sidekick John Hurt. But American Tom Berenger doesn't know the rules around there and he does bid.But what Berenger wants to do is develop the place, put some Americanized shopping mall there. Imagine a strip mall on some of that beach-front property that John Ford so lovingly photographed in The Quiet Man and you can understand the feelings there. It all leads to a lot of tragedy.Originally Harris was supposed to play the priest role that Sean McGinley had and who played it well. The lead was to go to Ray McAnally who had done this role on stage. When McAnally died, Harris was moved up to the lead and responded with an Oscar nominated performance for Best Actor. Harris lost that year to Jeremy Irons in Reversal of Fortune.Also look for some nice performances here by Sean Bean as Harris's son and Brenda Fricker as his wife. All part of a very violent household.Religion specifically the Roman Catholic Church takes a beating and The Field does touch on the conservative role of the church in society. It's a generally accepted fact that the Church did its level best to discourage revolutionary activity during the 19th century after the Irish lost their parliament in the Wolfe Tone rebellion. Harris and others in the film comment about how no priests died during the potato famine that they don't know how the tenant farmers live. And Sean McGinley as the village priest is by no means portrayed as a bad man. There's also bad feelings towards Berenger who is seen as the descendant of people who cut and ran during the Irish troubles. Of course if a lot hadn't emigrated to all points of the globe, there would be a lot more trying to share the land that Harris wants to hold on to. The Field is a fine drama about Ireland and the problems there that may not have been totally resolved with independence.