Far and Away is another one of those seemingly never-ending epics. This epic doesn't so much span a great amount of time, as it does locals.Ireland to New York City, to the Open Frontier of the Wild West. Tom Cruise is a land laborer whose land is taken away and house set on fire, so when he goes to claim revenge, is stabbed in the leg by the man's daughter (Nicole Kidman). After some squabbles by them, they boat over to the US in hope of getting land. Accordingly, it doesn't work like that, and it takes several hours before there's anything that resembles it. In other words, it's Ron Howard doing his "thing." Which, if you don't know, is sucking it for all it is worth, with having little to begin with, and trying his darndest to spread an Oscar cream to illuminate it. Note to Ron: Don't trivialize the over-dramatic to begin with. It doesn't make it any more interesting or any more affecting. We go from Revenge of the Underprivileged to The Best Little Whore House in [City's name here] to Cimarron. Instead of taking one of these segments and developing and expanding it, the three are shoved together, semi-rushed (though it does boringly take its time in other places), and at best it amounts to a gritty, groutty postcard. Cruise's accent is decent, and Kidman's classiness is only put on display as a window dressing in the pretty period clothing.Final Verdict: B-.
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