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The Milagro Beanfield War (1988)
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Reviews Counted:27
Fresh:16
Rotten:11
Average Rating:5.9/10
Runtime: 1 hr 58 mins
Genre: Dramas
Synopsis: Nothing ever changes in Milagro, New Mexico. Located in the desert, the sparsely populated town is slowly dying. Developer Ladd Devine (Richard Bradford) plans to change that with his plans to... Nothing ever changes in Milagro, New Mexico. Located in the desert, the sparsely populated town is slowly dying. Developer Ladd Devine (Richard Bradford) plans to change that with his plans to build a luxury recreation area that will make him money but will also displace the locals who have lived in Milagro for years. Upset that he is unable to find work with the developers, a frustrated Joe Mondragon (Chick Vennera) kicks the community water line--which is off limits to locals--and inadvertently begins to irrigate the dry, parched land that was once his father's beanfield. Joe's actions create an uproar as the eccentric locals begin to band together to protect Joe's beanfield and to stand up for themselves. Ruby Archuleta (Sonia Braga), the town mechanic and a rabble rouser, seizes the opportunity to protest against the development, enlisting the help of Charlie Bloom (John Heard), a reluctant lawyer with a penchant for people's rights. Joe's beanfield becomes a symbol for the Milagro residents, who realize that no amount of money is worth losing their town and their history. Directed by Robert Redford (ORDINARY PEOPLE, THE HORSE WHISPERER), the film is based on the novel by John Nichols. [More]
Starring: Sonia Braga, Chick Vennera, Ruben Blades, Christopher Walken
Starring: Sonia Braga, Chick Vennera, Ruben Blades, Christopher Walken, Daniel Stern, John Heard, Julie Carmen, Basil Hoffman
Director: Robert Redford
Director: Robert Redford
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Reviews for The Milagro Beanfield War
This is probably Redford's most complex and cleverly structured directorial effort.
Pokes gently at the funny bone and is sympathetic without becoming sentimental.
Redford and company have put a quirky twist on the material, investing it with a quasi-mystical aspect as well as some raw comedy.
Fairly choked with good intentions, whimsy, touches of fantasy, and cardboard liberal stereotypes.
Redford's film sustains a slow mood of simpatico amiability and photographs the landscape with moony or golden washes that are perhaps hard to dislike, but is slain by its adherence to an outdated populist mythology.
Who'd of thought that a battle over water rights would make for such an interesting tale?
The film is very big on sunsets and sunrises. It also has a touristy appreciation for all manner of things folkloric. What it doesn't have is dramatic coherence or backbone.
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