CLASSIC MOVIES: LOVE FIELD (1992)

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Brief Movie Synopsis [courtesy of Turner Classic Movies]:

Set in 1963, a Southern white woman en route to
John F. Kennedy's funeral in Washington meets a black man
who's on the lam after abducting his young daughter from an
abusive situation. Michelle Pfeiffer was nominated for an
Academy Award as Best Actress for her role in this film.

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REVIEWS:

"Love Field [is] a gentle, involving film about interracial friendship. ....
The year is 1963, the President has just been assassinated and Lurene [Michelle Pfeiffer] feels duty bound to take the bus from Dallas to Washington to attend the funeral. 'What I want is to go to that rotunda and file past that caisson or cortege or whatever it is and pay my respects,' Lurene says, savoring the important-sounding words that make her think she has a mission. .... A character this flamboyant would risk sinking any film. But Ms. Pfeiffer, again demonstrating that she is as subtle and surprising as she is beautiful, plays Lurene with remarkable grace. .... This modest film actually covers a lot of ground, touching on the racial and sexual attitudes of its time while also filling in the particulars of its characters' earlier lives. .... 'Love Field' brings remarkably few preconceptions to the telling of its understated story. The characters transcend stereotypes, but what really matters is the actors'
ability to breathe these people to life."

-- Excerpt from The New York Times; December 11, 1992

"She is a Dallas housewife who worships Jacqueline Kennedy, and is stuck in a drab marriage. .... When she learns that the Kennedys plan to visit Dallas, she's beside herself. .... 'Love Field' depicts the moment of the assassination in a creepy, effective way, by showing the woman driving through the streets of Dallas and realizing that something has gone wrong. People aren't behaving normally. .... When the woman, whose name is Lurene and who is played by Michelle Pfeiffer, realizes that the president is dead, her heart goes out to the first lady; she identifies so strongly with her that she cares more for Jackie's husband than for her own. She decides she must attend the funeral. .... So she takes the bus to Washington. And along the way, as she meets a black man (Dennis Haysbert) and his young daughter, she finds herself blundering into a drama much bigger than she counted on. .... I think this basic situation would have worked better as a simple human story, instead of being tricked up with so many Hollywood formulas and gimmicks. .... And yet there are real qualities to this movie, not least Michelle Pfeiffer's performance, which takes a woman who could have become a comic target and invests her with a certain dignity: Within her limitations and almost against her nature, she grows and changes during these few days, and will never be the same again. The Haysbert character is also carefully drawn. [He] is acutely aware of the racism and danger she hardly seems to notice. Some of the best lines...involve Pfeiffer making blithe assumptions about the nature of American reality, and
Haysbert adding quiet, subtle footnotes."

-- Roger Ebert; February 12, 1993