Jessica Lange and Sam Shepard star in this early work from the Touchstone vault. Country is the story of the Ivy family farm trying to survive in a tough market that is designed for profit.
The Plot
Gil and his wife Jewel are farmers who are scraping by. Life has been tough throughout their community, and the price of corn has been in a slump globally. Surviving on loans, they have always managed to make do, until now.
Their loans are called in, and now the family starts to splinter. Gil begins drinking and panics, while Jewel tries to rally the community. As her husband falters, Jewel learns that other farmers have had their loans called, and an auctioneer has been sent to sell off their property to recoup some of their financial loss.
Gil is useless, but Jewel sets a plan in action to ensure that the auction is a failure. With her neighbor’s support the auction ends in a disaster, and Jewel and her family have a moment of reprieve.
The Good
This is a great story that tackles a real issue that thousands of people were affected by starting in the late 1970’s and into the 1980’s. The days of the family farm that was owned for generations growing crops and taking them to market to be sold, had ended by the time Country came out. The global village had taken over, and farming for profit is what mattered. The change to the farm was so big that three films in 1984 including Country focused on farm life and what was happening.
The performances are first rate. Sam Shepard is excellent as Gil. He shows a power in his voice and actions that it would be easy to see how when he married Jewel that Gil could take over the farm from Otis his father-in-law easily.
As good as Shepard is, Jessica Lange is the real star. It’s not obvious at first, but when the loan is called, Gil fades and it is Jewel who must act. Lange is powerful in her actions and smart, committed to keeping the farm in her family name and will stop at nothing to achieve it. Lange makes Jewel more than just the wife, she proves that Jewel is really the bedrock to the family.
The Bad and the Ugly
I found Gil’s fight with Carlisle to be unnecessary.
Wilford Brimley was cast perfectly as Otis but wasn’t given enough to do. He should have had a bigger role.
This is not an action movie. It’s a character piece tackling a real issue in America for its time. If this doesn’t interest you, then perhaps you will want to skip Country.
Beyond the Film Facts
- Jessica Lange was nominated for Best Actress at the Oscars and Golden Globes for her work in the film.
- The movie was a Top 10 winner with the National Board of Review.
- This was the second theatrical outing for Touchstone Pictures after Splash.
- The movie was released under Touchstone Films before the rebranding to pictures.
- Country is one of five films that Sam Shepard and Jessica Lange co-starred in.
- Country was also one of three films released in 1984 that focused on farm related issues.
- Levi Knebel who played the son Carlisle, never acted in another film. Country was his first and only movie.
- The tornado scene was filmed on Stage 4 at the Walt Disney Studio.
- The film premiered at the New York Film Festival.
- Sam Shepard did an uncredited rewrite of the script which changed the tone of the film to be tougher and less sentimental. (I wonder if his rewrite helped to elevate Lange’s role to be so prominent. If so, then that is an improvement that film needed.)
- William D Wittliff had started shooting the picture but quit as director three weeks into production.
- Apparently, President Reagan did not like the film.
The Streamy Award
{The following four categories are based on a Film Reel scale.
1 Reel-Bored and Killing Time, 2 Reels-When You Have Some Time, 3 Reels-Make Some Time, 4 Reels-Big Screen Event}
Country gets a 3 Reels rating. It not only satisfies the viewers with a temporary happy ending, but it also allows the audience to see a slice of life of what was happening on the farm at the time.
What was refreshing to see was that Country was a movie that was trying to say something and not just make money. This doesn’t happen now. Country was one of the first out of the starting gates for the Disney adult branded film releases, and it couldn’t be more different than some of the films we see coming out of the studios today. There is no merchandise connection or sequels here.
Having Jessica Lange and Sam Shepherd on screen together helps sell the story. Their chemistry is incredible and the emotions that the two show as Gil and Jewel will help all viewers decry the plight of what happened to the generational family farm.
The Touchstone vault surprises me sometimes. Country is a powerful film with a message. These films are dropped on streaming today but knowing that movies like Country were made and received a big screen release makes me happy.
Cast and Crew
- Sam Shepard as Gil
- Jessica Lange as Jewel
- Wilford Brimley as Otis
- Matt Clark as Tom McMullen
Directed by Richard Pearce
Produced by Touchstone Pictures (Films) / Far West / Panagea
Release Date: September 29, 1984
Budget: $10 million
Box Office Gross
Domestic: $9,640,000
Coming Soon
Next week a look back at an early Touchstone film, My Science Project.