Far and Away
A young man (Cruise) leaves Ireland with his landlord’s daughter (Kidman) after some trouble with her father…
- Director: Ron Howard
- Genre:Adventure / Drama / Romance
- Runtime:134 minutes
Cast
Tom Cruise : Joseph Donnelly
Nicole Kidman : Shannon Christie
Thomas Gibson : Stephen Chase
Robert Prosky : Daniel Christie
Barbara Babcock : Nora Christie
Joseph Donelly (Tom Cruise), a hot-headed young Irishman facing property eviction after his father’s death, decides to take revenge on his landlord, Daniel Christie (Robert Prosky). In his attempt to kill him however, he is discovered by Daniel’s daughter, Shannon Christie (Nicole Kidman) and is injured by her when he tries to escape. While injured he continues his plans to kill his landlord, but his weapon malfunctions due to rust. Held captive while they treat his wounds (planning to subsequently have him hanged for attempted murder), Joseph tries to escape the house and is caught by Stephen Chase (Thomas Gibson), Daniel’s arrogant manager. Joseph spits on Stephen in anger and, disgraced, Stephen challenges Joseph to a duel of pistols at dawn. Meanwhile, Shannon, also Stephen’s love interest, is growing dissatisfied with the traditional views of her parents’ generation and longs to be modern, even going as far as to disgust her mother and their friends by playing American music on the piano. She makes plans to leave for America to claim land that’s being given away for free, and with her help, Joseph is able to escape. Shannon pays for Joseph’s passage and he pretends to be her servant. This way, a single young woman is able to travel without question, and Joseph, now aware of the reality of the free land, can reach America to claim land. Shannon meets and talks to a kindly man on the ship named Mr. McGuire about the promise of land and her money issues. He informs her that to claim the free land, she must travel to Oklahoma and race for it along with others. Concerned with the expense of travel, she explains to him that she has no money, only expensive silver spoons. He tells her he will help her find a shop to whom she can sell her silver.
Upon arriving in Boston, McGuire steals her spoons and is shot by men who seem to have previous trouble with him. The spoons are scattered in the street and stolen by passersby. Calling for help, Shannon is rescued by Joseph, who manages to save her bag and get her out of the streets. Taking charge of their situation, Joseph is led to the community of Irish living in the area and speaks to the man in charge. Through him, they find a room to live in and jobs in a chicken processing plant. Due to Shannon’s wealthy background, which is hated by the lower class Irish they find themselves surrounded by, Joseph lies and tells everyone that she is in fact his sister, to save her from being exiled or hurt. Time passes and it becomes obvious that Joseph and Shannon have become attracted to each other, but both keep up a front of hostility. One night, after peeking at Shannon undress, Joseph finds himself sexually frustrated and rushes out and joins in a barehanded boxing match. Winning the match provides Joseph with newfound wealth and becomes somewhat of a local celebrity. Meanwhile back in Ireland, the Christie house is burned down by unhappy taxpayers, so the Christies, with Stephen, decide to go to America to find their daughter. Read more
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