Cast: Michelle Pfeiffer, Dennis Haysbert, Stephanie McFadden, Brain Kerwin, Louise Latham
Director: Jonathan Kaplan
Producers: Sarah Pillsbury and Midge Sanford
Screenplay: Don Roos
Cinematography: Ralf D. Bode
Music: Jerry Goldsmith
U.S. Distributor: Orion Pictures
John and Jacqueline Kennedy meant different things to different people, and, like many Americans in the early 1960s, Lurene Hallett (Michelle Pfeiffer) was enamoured with the First Couple. Living in Dallas, Lurene just misses an opportunity to shake the President's hand as he disembarks from his plane on November 22. Shortly thereafter, he's dead and Lurene is devastated. Ignoring explicit instructions from her husband to the contrary, she sets out for Washington D. C. and the President's funeral. Along the way, she meets Paul Cater (Dennis Haysbert) and his quiet little daughter, Jonell (newcomer Stephanie McFadden). From then on, her life will never be the same.
Films such as JFK and Ruby examine the assassination from the inside, presenting theories of how and why things happened as they did. Love Field looks at circumstances from the outside, presenting the perspective of an ordinary Texas woman. For those old enough to remember the Kennedy assassination, this movie will doubtless stir a sense of deja vu. For those too young, it may help to convey some sense of what things were like during that bleak week in November of 1963.
Nevertheless, despite a realistic depiction of how America reacted to the assassination, the first half of Love Field doesn't have much else going for it. The movie meanders for almost an hour without direction. We know it's going somewhere, and we sense the direction in which it's headed, but it seems to take an awful long time getting there.
The central theme is not explored until the second half. It's then, as the relationship between Lurene and Paul becomes better-defined, that the question of racial intolerance rears its head. Superficially, this picture might seem to be a romance, or even a story about people on the run, but the fundamental issue addressed by Love Field is that of bigotry.
As outdated as some of the attitudes in Love Field are, there are disturbing parallels with today's headlines. In one of this film's most electrifying moments, Paul screams at Lurene that being white and miserable isn't the same as being black -- the two don't compare. Although he soon apologizes for saying that and other things, the words of his impassioned speech provoke a deep reaction.
Michelle Pfeiffer does an adequate job in a thankless role. Lurene is not a particularly likable person, and it's always a challenge for a charismatic actress to give a sensitive portrayal of someone with such an abrasive personality. Dennis Haysbert may have the easier job, but his performance is more impressive. Stealing scenes from both veterans is young Stephanie McFadden.
The issues raised by Love Field are not unique, nor is their presentation new, but they are important and timely. Unfortunately, Love Field starts and ends so shakily that the better parts of the film are sandwiched by a mediocrity that they cannot entirely overcome.
© 1993 James Berardinelli