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Rambling Rose (1991)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted: 17
Fresh: 17
Rotten:0
Average Rating: 7.2/10
Consensus: A touching. bittersweet, and wonderfully-acted film.
Runtime: 2 hrs 20 mins
Genre: Dramas
Synopsis: Based on Calder Willingham's novel of the same name, RAMBLING ROSE is a domestic drama set in a small Georgia town during the 1930s. The main character is Rose (Laura Dern), a lower-class girl with... Based on Calder Willingham's novel of the same name, RAMBLING ROSE is a domestic drama set in a small Georgia town during the 1930s. The main character is Rose (Laura Dern), a lower-class girl with a troubled past who takes a job as a live-in maid for the Hillyers, an upper-crust, liberal southern family. Rose quickly wins over her employers with her warmth and spirit, but they are concerned about her promiscuity, which soon has every boy in town at her door. Struggling to resist her innocently seductive ways, the man of the house (Robert Duvall) tries to curb Rose's behavior as she beguiles everyone in the household, including the young Buddy (Lukas Haas), whose sexual awakening is guided by her presence. The cast is rounded out by the strong-minded and independent Mrs. Hillyer (Diane Ladd), who is Laura Dern's real life mother; both actresses were nominated for Oscars for their performances. [More]
Starring: Laura Dern, Diane Ladd, Robert Duvall, Lukas Haas
Starring: Laura Dern, Diane Ladd, Robert Duvall, Lukas Haas
Director: Martha Coolidge
Director: Martha Coolidge
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Reviews for Rambling Rose
Seen in a flashback through the eyes of an adolescent, this uncommon coming-of-age tale, which raises poignant questions about the mysteries of sex and love, flaunts a superb performance from Laura Dern as the promiscuous girl
Probes the mixture of fear and awe many men experience when they meet the life-force of women.
A modest but pleasingly adult entertainment at a time when even the most promising American films ultimately revert to Pollyannaish platitudes.
So much here is rich and touching, not to mention the string of superb performances, that the film still merits a recommendation.
Willingham, who also scripted Paths of Glory, Little Big Man and The Graduate, wrote Rose in the early 1970s. Thanks to these sterling performances almost two decades later, his screenplay enjoys a fresh and tender blossoming.
Truly extraordinary performances, the familiar yet rarely predictable script and the fertile subtext that looks at sexuality and desire through feminist question marks, makes 'Rambling Rose' one of the year's most touching and absorbing movie experiences.
The movie is all character and situation, and contains some of the best performances of the year, especially in the ensemble acting of the four main characters.
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