A THOUSAND ACRES

A Thousand Acres attempts to turn Shakespeare’s King Lear into a story about an American farm family. It has an able cast, and it tries to explore buried family wounds, sexual-abuse allegations, betrayal, illness and grief.

But the source review finds the result thin, melodramatic and emotionally unconvincing. The story’s treatment of abuse is glossed over, while its portrayal of church people and Christianity is unbalanced. The film also includes implied adultery, drinking while driving and a disturbing fight at a church picnic.

This is an R-rated drama for adults, but its adult subject matter does not make it worthwhile. For your time and conscience, skip it and choose something else.

A wealthy patriarch gathers his three daughters to announce how he plans to divide his productive farm. Two daughters welcome the plan, while the youngest, a lawyer living in the city, has reservations and is excluded from the split.

That decision exposes old resentments and fractures the family. As the father’s conduct and the daughters’ memories come under scrutiny, the farm becomes the center of a bitter struggle over love, loyalty and justice.

Two stars means this film has some ability but falls well short of its promise. Jessica Lange and Michelle Pfeiffer do well with their material, with Pfeiffer carrying intense rage through the story.

The writing and directing are the larger problems. The characters are one-dimensional, the drama plays like a soap opera, and the emotional weight never matches the literary foundation of King Lear. The filmmakers also miss the realism of the American land and setting that strengthens films such as Field of Dreams and Giant.

The film presents a Christian family marked by deep hurt, unforgiving attitudes and ungodly acts. It tries to suggest that family problems can be examined honestly, but the source review finds that it ends as a tear-jerker without conviction or a soul.

Its treatment of Christianity is especially misleading. A church picnic becomes the setting for public defamation and a brawl, while the film treats churchgoing as evidence that the father could not have committed grave wrongs. The review notes that Christians know church membership does not prevent sin, but says the film goes further by portraying Christianity as a force that placates people and blinds otherwise good observers. That is not the Gospel, which offers salvation through Jesus Christ to those who have fallen short.

The film’s attempt at mythic Americana also feels misplaced. Though made by Australian writer Laura Jones and director Jocelyn Moorhouse, it does not make the land, time and place a meaningful part of the drama. The result is a story that could have been set almost anywhere.

The film’s longing for justice and healing is real, but it cannot answer that longing. Scripture says, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23), while salvation is found in Christ rather than in human respectability.

A Thousand Acres has capable performances and serious subject matter, but its melodrama, disturbing content and distorted treatment of Christianity outweigh its merits. For discerning adults, this is still not worth the time or conscience. SKIP IT. For better choices, see.