Search - A Thousand Acres on DVD

MPAA Rating: R Content Advisory: Violence, Adult Situations, Profanity, Sexual Situations Movie Release: 1997 DVD Release: 04/22/1998 Format: DVD - Enhanced Wide Screen Letterbox for 16x9 TV Audio Tracks: English Subtitles: English SwapaDVD Credits: 1 Number of Discs: 1 Run Time: 1 hrs 46 mins Studio: Walt Disney Video Members Wishing: 0 Genres: Drama, Psychological Drama, Family Drama, Rural Drama

A feminist farm belt version of William Shakespeare's King Lear, this film is based on Jane Smiley's novel about an aging farmer and his three daughters. The Lear-like farmer, Larry Cook (Jason Robards), decides to divide up his thousand-acre farm among his three daughters, but he disinherits his youngest, Caroline (Jennifer Jason Leigh), an attorney, when she expresses hesitancy. The other sisters, Ginny (Jessica Lange) and Rose (Michelle Pfeiffer), take up the offer, even though they were sexually abused by their father as children. They also take up romantically with the hippie son of a neighboring farmer, Jess Clark (Colin Firth), after their own drunken, demented father moves out to live with Clark's father Harold (Pat Hingle). When Rose's husband Peter (Kevin Anderson) learns of her betrayal, he gets drunk, crashes his truck, and dies. Ginny's husband Ty (Keith Carradine) enlists Caroline's help and sues Ginny and Rose on behalf of their father, whom he feels has been treated badly by the daughters. ~ Michael Betzold, All Movie Guide

Michelle Pfeiffer - Rose Cook Lewis
Jessica Lange - Ginny Cook Smith
Jason Robards, Jr. - Larry Cook
Jennifer Jason Leigh - Caroline Cook
Colin Firth - Jess Clark

Jocelyn Moorhouse's adaptation of the Pulitzer Prize winning A Thousand Acres comes to DVD with a widescreen transfer that preserves the original theatrical aspect ratio of 1.85:1. The English soundtrack is rendered in Dolby Digital 5.1. There are neither subtitles nor closed-captions on this release. Supplemental materials include the theatrical trailer. This is a fine release from Disney/Buena Vista that offers excellent sound quality. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide