X
- 1981
- R
- Warner Bros.
- 1 h 34 m
- 1981
- R
- Warner Bros.
- 1 h 34 m
Summary A prostitute and a drifter find themselves bound together as they make their way through the rural South, doing what they have to do to survive.
Directed By: Martin Ritt
Written By: Gary DeVore
- 1981
- R
- Warner Bros.
- 1 h 34 m
- 1981
- R
- Warner Bros.
- 1 h 34 m
Back Roads
48
User Score
Available after 4 ratings
tbd
Summary A prostitute and a drifter find themselves bound together as they make their way through the rural South, doing what they have to do to survive.
Directed By: Martin Ritt
Written By: Gary DeVore
Top Cast
Metascore
Mixed or Average
Based on 8 Critic Reviews
48
0% Positive
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
100% Mixed
8 Reviews
8 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Metascore
Mixed or Average
Based on 8 Critic Reviews
48
0% Positive
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
100% Mixed
8 Reviews
8 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Ritt and DeVore don't capitalize on their fairy-tale structure; they let the magic dribble away. The moviegoer knows from the start that this isn't a story about real people and accepts the fact. [16 Mar 1981, p.97]
Very good on local colour but a bit sugary in its attitude to the central relationship, it would have been better taking a bleaker cue from Tommy Lee Jones' admirably dry performance.
Less a movie than an extended sketch, and it's to the credit of Mr. Ritt, his stars and Gary Devore, the screenwriter, that the movie is so much fun, even given its occasional soggy patches.
Ritt and Field seem to have been trying to capitalize on the southern backwoods setting that served them so well in Norma Rae, but this time around they didn't have nearly as engaging a story with which to work.
How could they take this material and make it really original? Maybe by refusing to be seduced by the Screenwriter's stock Hollywood "originality" and probing more deeply into the real human lives of the characters. The people in Back Roads are so heavily laden with schtick that they never have a chance to develop personalities.
Surprisingly, this is the work of director Martin Ritt and Sally Field, the star whose Norma Rae combined sharp drama with keen social awareness. Their new film is the junky underside of that good movie. [26 Mar 1981, p.19]
Indeed, you come out of Back Roads feeling more familiar with the configuration of Sally Field's spinal column and chestbone than the character she's struggling to embody.
User Reviews
There are no user reviews yet. Be the first to add a review.
