Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!

Absolutely Fantastic

The acting is good, and the firecracker script has some excellent ideas.

One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

I was inspired to revisit this classic after seeing Mary Steenburgen in Time After Time with Malcolm McDowell. McDowell had a small part in this film also as Rawlings' publisher.Eighty years ago, Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings gave up everything to move to Florida and write. She went as far away from everything as you could go. In the land of orange groves, cypress trees, and wildlife abundant, she found the inspiration she needed. This is her story.It is peppered with colorful characters that lived in the backwoods of Florida, a place that hardly exists anymore with all the development. It featured outstanding performances by Rip Torn as her neighbor, Peter Coyote as the one who was trying to win her heart, Dana Hill as the young girl that inspired "The Yearling," and Alfre Woodard in one of her first roles.Torn and Woodard got Oscar nominations for their performances.One of the most impressive features of the film, other than showing the beauty of Florida that is long gone, is the respect shown for the land by Rawlings. Any Native American would be proud of her respect for the land.It is an inspirational family film that is worth revisiting over and over.

...who is planning to move to Florida. This movie, and, Marjorie's "other film", the 1947 film, "The Yearling", give a very accurate impression of, as the State of Florida still refers to, "The Other Florida", which has nothing to do with theme parks, professional sports teams, condos, crowded highways, or strip malls - or even the beach - but, had everything to do with the exotic subtropical Florida wilderness, now lost to all but the Federal and State parks.To me, both movies are so historically accurate, that, it's not difficult for me to smell the natural environment that surrounded the lives of those who lived among Florida's vast forests of that time.Again, this and the '47 film should both be required for anyone moving to the state - at least I wish they would be mandatory, as it just might give a person a bit more respect for what Florida is really like...Frank

MARY STEENBURGEN gives a nice, subdued performance as Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings (author of "The Yearling"), who relocates to the Florida swamplands when she wants isolation so she can concentrate on her writing. After difficulties in getting her Gothic work published, she decides to take her publisher's advice and write from experience about the characters she comes into contact with in her new locale.There's a lot of regional flavor here and the color photography captures the mood and life style of the determined novelist as she sets about turning a hut into a habitable environment so she can pursue her work. As a story of a strong minded woman overcoming hardships, the film succeeds on its own terms.This will probably have its strongest appeal for anyone familiar with the Rawlings work. One can see how certain incidents (the girl who loved her little fawn, for example), became part of "The Yearling".Martin Ritt's direction brings the Florida backwoods scenes to life with some realistic performances from PETER COYOTE, RIP TORN and MALCOM McDOWELL (Steenburgen's real-life husband) as Miss Rawlings' publisher.Summing up: A story of limited appeal, a bit slow moving with some interesting vignettes.

Mary Steenbergen is at her best with this. Low key but strong willed woman with a love for the countryside and sense of what is right. She faces of with Rip Torn's gruff cracker over a pig, and he ends up inviting her to the barbeque. Heartwarming and heartbreaking.