one of the message board thread at imdb have two woman talk about colin firth and how they watch the movie only because of him . obviously these be two young woman while but what strike me be how little this movie have be appreciate by audience generally . the brilliant and and i mean brilliant and performance by michelle pfeiffer and jessica lange be hardly notice and not only by audience and but by the academy and by most of the critic . i think i know why . first and the plot or actually just the setup be a kind of bastardization of shakespeare king lear with the dying and crazy patriarch and the three scheme daughter who will inherit . their name even begin with the same letter and regan and goneril and and cordelia rise and ginny and and caroline . and i guess larry ( jason robards ) work for lear . the apparent idea envision by jane smiley in her pulitzer prize win novel be to tell a lear like story from the point of view of the daughter and and to tell it a sort of late twentieth century realistic way not consider by the bard . the problem be and in smiley and moorhouse story and the two old daughter be very human with strength and weakness while the father be a most despicable character without much in the way of redeem quality . his only strength be his ability to make a financial success of the farm while however and we can even discount that since his father and grandfather before him build the farm and he inherit it . the second problem and this be one i can not personally attest to and not have read smiley novel be that the movie be only a limited and partial interpretation of that novel . still and it be almost always the case that an excellent novel and especially a long and ambitious one with many psychological nuance and can not be faithfully transfer to the screen . the vision and audio demand of film drown out the subtlety of a narration while the time constraint do not allow for the full development of character and motivation achieve by the novelist . give five or six hour and perhaps moorhouse could have make a movie more in keep with smiley novel . a third problem be one that be perhaps moorhouse alone . she begin her direct career with the very well do aussie film proof ( 1991 ) star russell crowe . she follow it up with how to make an american quilt ( 1995 ) which celebrate woman and especially woman of a certain age . however it be a bit heavy hand and clearly and determinedly a chick flick . in a sense a thousand acre take off from there and show u not only the point of view of woman and but do so in a way that may seem politically motivate to some . larry cook be clearly a bad and bad daddy . he beat his daughter and he have carnal knowledge of them . he run the household with an iron fist . jess ( colin firth character ) seduce the inexperienced ginny and break her heart for nothing more than a bit of fun it would appear . and then he go to rise and who clearly be go to be the power behind the new ownership and and hook up with her and while incidentally induce her husband to end his life in a drunken accident . the rest of the men be one dimensional character without nuance and the way they often appear in romance novel . i think most audience be put off by the heavy hand incest and adultery and sexual betrayal that be weave into the story . have say all this and i think the critic and the public be wrong . i think the direction be bias against men and but in this story it need to be . i think moorhouse do a fine job of make an emotional and engaging film about family dynamic that be none too pretty . and the acting by pfeiffer and lange be nothing short of sensational . they seem to fee off of one another in a way that i find absolutely authentic and deeply move . in particular pfeiffer be rivet a she project her bent up anger and hatred . the way moorhouse allow her character to be reveal to u gradually be a tribute to her ability a a director as well a to pfeiffer outstanding performance . and the skill with which moorhouse guide the change in ginny character a she go from a ninny and a she call herself and to someone with self awareness and some understandable bitterness and be also excellent . the fact that she leave her husband be as much out of shame a anything else . he need to go get her and forgive her and bring her back . and robards in his intensity and madness be also very good . i predict that this film and which bomb in theater and will be well appreciate in the year to come a people see it on dvd . my question be and whatever happen to moorhouse . her talent be obvious and but she have yet to director her fourth feature film . when she do i hope she remembers to go with what she believe but to be fair a well . i think and actually she be fair to the two lead character in this film and but do not pay enough attention to the others . in addition to the unnuanced father and jennifer jason leigh caroline be unfinished and leave u to wonder about why she do some of the thing she do . and the husband need to be something more than mannequin . they need to be engage and involve .