Far and Away

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Far And Away
Promotional movie poster
Directed by	Ron Howard
Produced by	Ron Howard Brian Grazer
Written by	Bob Dolman Ron Howard
Starring	Tom Cruise Nicole Kidman
Music by	John Williams
Distributed by	Universal Pictures (USA)
Release date(s)	22 May 1992
Running time	140 min.
Language	English
Budget	$30,000,000 (estimated)
All Movie Guide profile
IMDb profile

Far and Away (1992) is a drama film directed by Ron Howard and starring Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman. Cruise and Kidman play Irish immigrants seeking their fortune in 1890s America, eventually taking part in the Land Run of 1893.

1 Plot Summary
2 Reaction
3 Trivia
4 Further reading

[edit] Plot Summary

Joseph Donnelly, a young Irishman facing property eviction after his father's death, decides to take revenge on Daniel Christie, his landlord. Instead of killing Christie, however, he is injured and sentenced to a duel with Christie's arrogant manager, Stephen Chase. Meanwhile, Shannon, Daniel's daughter, is growing dissatisfied with the traditional views of her parents' generation and longs to be modern. She makes her plans to leave for America, and with her help, Joseph is able to escape. Upon arriving in Boston, Mass., they find jobs and begin saving money. Joseph becomes a local barehands boxer, while Shannon works in a chicken processing plant and then as a dancer at the social club. All goes well until Joseph loses a boxing match, after which their money is taken away. Joseph and Shannon are left to starve in the winter cold. Shannon's parents, still in Ireland, face a devastating loss and decide to come to America to be with her. Chase, who joined them, has begun a campaign to find her, but his efforts are unnecessary Joseph brings Shannon to them after an accident. Joseph then heads west to work on the railroad. After many months, Joseph is confronted by his father in a dream, and is reminded of his desire to own his own land. Joseph decides to join the wagon trains and arrives in Oklahoma Territory just in time for the big land race, upon which his fate will lie.

[edit] Reaction

The movie received generally modest reviews, and was not very well received by audiences. The movie, which cost US$60 million to make, earned only $10 million on its first weekend but made a total of $59 million domestically. Although it was not a huge flop as it was often believed (it fared solidly abroad, with almost $79 million), it fell far below the studio's expectations considering that it had two big stars (Cruise and Kidman). One particular criticism of the film was that the two leads (Cruise in particular) could not perform convincing accents. But the widespread media focus on Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman since their December 1990 wedding may have hampered the movie's reputation even further.

[edit] Trivia

The main theme of the film Far And Away is sung by Enya.

The film was the first to be shot in Panavision Super 70, utilizing Panavision's newly updated 65mm camera equipment. The format was heavily promoted in the film's publicity materials, but eventually failed to renew interest in 65mm feature film photography.