Back Roads (1981 film)

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This article is about the 1981 film. For the 2018 film, see Back Roads (2018 film).
Back Roads
Back Roads (1981 film).jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed byMartin Ritt
Written byGary DeVore
Produced byRonald Shedlo
StarringSally Field
Tommy Lee Jones
CinematographyJohn A. Alonzo
Edited bySidney Levin
Music byHenry Mancini
Production
company
Distributed byWarner Bros.
Release date
  • March 13, 1981 (1981-03-13)
Running time
90 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Box office$11.8 million[1]

Back Roads is a 1981 American romantic comedy film starring Sally Field and Tommy Lee Jones. It is directed by Martin Ritt. It got middling reviews and grossed $11 million at the box office. This was the first film produced by CBS Theatrical Films (a short lived film production branch of CBS). The film was distributed by Warner Bros.

Plot[]

Amy Post is a $20-a-trick hooker in Mobile, Alabama. One night she entertains Elmore Pratt, an ex-boxer who has just been fired from his job at a car wash. He cannot pay her for services rendered.

Pratt punches a plainclothes police officer. He and Amy drive away together, intending to head for California, bickering along the way.

Production[]

Field and Jones disliked one another intensely during filming.[2] Ritt said that he regretted not being able to make this film work, blaming its failure on both the script and the stars' inability to get along. In her January 29, 2013 appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, Field said that she and Jones reconciled many years later when he approached her at an event and apologized for being so difficult back then. They went on to co-star in the 2012 film, Lincoln, for which they both received Academy Award nominations for their supporting roles.

Reception[]

In his March 13, 1981 review, The New York Times critic Vincent Canby wrote that there "seems to be a real rapport" between the two actors. Canby described the film as "extremely appealing and occasionally gutsy and very funny."[3] Other reviewers were less kind. Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times considered the movie formulaic and "heavily laden with schtick", giving the film two stars on a scale of four, although he did comment that Field "gives a performance that cannot be faulted."[4] He considered Back Roads a "less-than-successful" effort by director Ritt.[5]

Cast[]

  • Sally Field as Amy Post
  • Tommy Lee Jones as Elmore Pratt
  • David Keith as Mason
  • Michael V. Gazzo as Tazio
  • Barbara Babcock as Ricky's mom
  • Miriam Colon as Angel
  • Alex Colon as Enrique
  • M. Emmet Walsh as Arthur
  • Dan Shor as Spivey
  • Lee de Broux as 'Red'
  • Ralph Seymour as Gosler
  • Royce D. Applegate as The Father
  • John Dennis Johnston as Gilly
  • John M. Jackson as Merle
  • Woody Watson as Larry
  • Bruce M. Fischer as Ezra
  • Don 'Red' Barry as Pete
  • Brian Frishman as Bleitz
  • Diane Summerfield as Liz
  • Henry Slate as Grover
  • Matthew Campion as Stromberg
  • Tony Ganios as Bartini
  • Arthur Pugh as Taper
  • Gerry Okuneff as Oren
  • Louie Nicholas as Burt
  • Cherie Brantley as Ellen
  • James Michael Bailey as Billy
  • Fred Baldwin as Gordy
  • Billy Holliday as Isaac
  • Barbara Thompson as Florence 'Flo'
  • Buddy Thompson as Peter
  • Phil Gordon as Caleb
  • Richard Charles Boyle as Ernest
  • Sherrie Whitman as Maralyn
  • Lupita Cornejo as Cory
  • Bob Hannah as Vernon
  • Eliott Keener as Willis
  • David Dahlgren as Mel
  • John Wilmot as Ed
  • Jack E. Shadix as Orville
  • Joe Ford as Max
  • Duke Alexander as Charlie
  • Nell Carter as Waitress
  • Billy Jayne as Boy Thief
  • Eric Laneuville as Pinball Wizard
  • Mike Barton as Police Officer
  • Lee McLaughlin as Deputy
  • Bennett Wayne Dean Sr. As Street Drug Dealer (uncredited)

References[]

  1. ^ "Back Roads (1981)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved May 2, 2016.
  2. ^ Breznican, Anthony (December 7, 2012). "Who's afraid of Tommy Lee Jones?". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved November 15, 2017.
  3. ^ Canby, Vincent (March 13, 1981). "MOVIE REVIEW: Back Roads (1981): Sally Field Stars in Ritt's 'Back Roads'". The New York Times.
  4. ^ Ebert, Roger (January 1, 1981). "Back Roads Movie Review". rogerebert.com.
  5. ^ Ebert, Roger (January 17, 1986). "Murphy's Romance Movie Review". rogerebert.com.

External links[]

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