Overall Rating
 Awesome: 61.11%
Worth A Look: 12.96%
Average: 5.56%
Pretty Bad: 16.67%
Total Crap: 3.7%
3 reviews, 36 user ratings
|
|
| Bridges of Madison County, The |
by Chris Parry
"When aliens land and want to know what love is, show them this."
|
I just don’t know what to make of Clint Eastwood. He seems to be the quintessential tough guy, ready to take down a foe with gun or fist in virtually every movie he takes part in. You look at Clint’s craggy features and you wouldn’t think there’s a thinking man underneath – until you see one of his directorial performances. With Unforgiven, Eastwood proved he could put together a slow, powerful, well-directed and performed piece of cinematic art, and though it still had macho man undertones, it was worth every ounce of its Oscar recognition. Bridges of Madison County, however, reveals a part of Eastwood’s persona that few would have known existed; a philosophical side, a romantic side, an underspoken meandering side that points to a man less concerned with making box office dollars and more concerned with telling a personal story. Respect to Clint for putting his cajones on the line to make a ‘chick flick’, and utmost respect to him for pulling it off with aplomb.Francesca (Meryl Streep) is an Iowa housewife in the 50’s. Originally from Italy, and having met and married her Iowa farmer husband while he was in Italy with the military, she unwittingly signed herself up for a trip with no sights. She’s bored with the farmer’s wife routine and when the hubby and kids take off for a few days and a National Geographic photographer (Clint Eastwood) wanders by, she’s suddenly swept up with the possibilities of what life could be if she decided to run away with him.
Told through a post-death letter to her children, Francesca’s tale isn’t particularly special, and the man she longs for isn’t the be all and end all of human existence. It’s simply four days of what could have been, told in such a beautiful, patient manner that any viewer with a longing in their heart for a great lost love or the long since forgotten wish to see a city on the other end of the world, can not help but be swept up in things.
Streep is, as ever, perfect as the Italian cum-cornfield house frau, and Eastwood’s understated performance, as the photographer who enters her life, is no less unforgettable.
If anything is lacking in this romantic epic, it would be a pair of performers to play Francesca’s children capable of matching the skill of the leads. Playing parallel to Eastwood and Streep’s bravura outing, none of the other cast members seem able to hold a candle to them, especially Victor Slezak who looks all at sea from start to finish, and though the difference in skills between the leads and the co-stars is understandable, it’s also noticeable.Still, if you’re looking for a movie that can wake you up from the everyday and start to believe that there’s more to life than the nine to five, Bridges of Madison county is a pretty good bet to do just that. The depiction of two people falling in love is not only well woven, but it also tends to shine a spotlight on your own ‘what if’s, and even if you’re not a huge romantic it’s nothing short of amazing to see what two top-of-the-line actors can do with no action, no supporting cast, and little else beyond a wooden bridge and a yellow linoleum kitchen table. If story, acting and passion matter to you, forget labels like ‘chick flick’ and rent this fine example of all three.
 del.icio.us 
link directly to this review at http://efilmcritic.com/review.php?movie=706&reviewer=1
originally posted: 04/02/02 13:11:16
![[printer]](/images/icon/printer.gif) printer-friendly format
|
 |
USA
02-Jun-1994 (PG-13)
UK
N/A
Australia
12-Oct-1995 (PG)
|
|
Articles 
subscribe to this feed
![[AllPosters.com]](/images/icon/ap.gif){kind=icon}
