Product Details

• Actors: Michelle Pfeiffer, Jessica Lange, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Jason Robards, Colin Firth
• Directors: Jocelyn Moorhouse
• Writers: Jane Smiley, Laura Jones
• Producers: Armyan Bernstein, Diana Pokorny, Kate Guinzburg, Lynn Arost, Marc Abraham
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, NTSC
• Rated: R (Restricted)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Walt Disney Video
• VHS Release Date: November 3, 1998
• Run Time: 105 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (33 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6304798490
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #156,773 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Jessica Lange and Michelle Pfeiffer are quietly dazzling in this underrated adaptation of Jane Smiley's best-selling modern version of King Lear. The two play sisters of a stubborn, alcoholic Iowa farmer (Jason Robards), who decides to leave his fertile farm to them and their youngest sister (Jennifer Jason Leigh). It is a decision that rends the family, setting siblings against one another and forcing long-held secrets out of their guilty closets. The family dynamics become ever more destructive, and the refuge of sanity the two older sisters have created may be their only salvation. It's a tragedy not quite on a Shakespearean scale, but anyone who appreciates the difficulties of a dysfunctional family will relate to the heartbreak--and the promise of redemption. Pfeiffer especially is breathtaking as the good housewife Rose, whose rage at her father and her husband is never far from her placid surface. --Anne Hurley

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Subtle and thoughtful drama with a powerhouse cast, September 22, 2005

By 

Jenny (Chicago, IL USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Thousand Acres (DVD)

I wish this hadn't bombed at the box office because this was an excellent film adaptation of one of my favorite contemporary novels by Jane Smiley. I guess the themes are a little tough--incest, madness, marital infidelity, ugly family secrets, cancer and the corrupting power of sex and money aren't exactly pick-me-ups. But the actors are superb--Jessica Lange really captures the essence of her trapped-in-girlhood character as does Michelle Pfeiffer as her feisty younger sister who masks her pain behind anger. Jennifer Jason Leigh, Keith Carradine, Jason Robards and my favorite, Colin Firth (complete with Midwestern accent--check out how he tries to say "farm" like an Iowan!) complete this stellar cast and everyone is terrific.

The story is a slightly different take on the story of King Lear, with Robards as an aging farmer who decides to leave his one-thousand acre farm to his three daughters, sparking life-changing conflict for them all. The story is quietly told, with two of the sisters finally acknowleding the abuse of their childhoods and searching for new hope as adults. Mixed into the tale is a subplot of adultery and betrayal.

I looked for this film for years after reading the book and am glad to have finally experienced it. If you like the stuff of real-life drama, this is a compelling story that will hold your attention and make you think.

12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Pfeiffer and Lange: Powerhouse Performances, October 26, 2004

By 

Thayer - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Thousand Acres (DVD)

This is one of movies where the memorable performances of the leads particularly Pfeiffer and Lange was probably now forgotten because of the failure of the movie, at least in the box office and reception by the critics. The movie has some flaws at least from my point of view, like the lack of coherence of the whole movie, some felt rushed and underdeveloped, lacked of style in storytelling, and weakness in the script. But I personally think this movie is still worth seeing, it has a certain quality that made it compelling and very relatable.

Michelle Pfeiffer gave a tour de force performance she interpreted Rose with such anger you almost feel why she's angry. She gave so much depth to her interpretation, the way her eyes well up and the intensity of her face in the confrontation scenes. It was heartbreaking and very touching. ("I did not forgive the unforgivable, that's my sole solitary and only accomplishment") Jessica Lange gave the subtler and more vulnerable attack to the character. She's a little laid back and understated and the result is really moving performance. I think Pfeiffer gave the better performance only because she got to play the more intense, showy, and ultimately tragic character.

The late Jason Robards was very good. He created a character that's both disgusting and also compelling. In the scene where he appeared to start exhibiting signs of senility and he just lost in the case regarding the farm, You can just feel what Pfeiffer was feeling when she said to her dad while going out in the court "Daddy, you lost" and she said it with such desperation and anger. That's probably one of the worst feelings, not being able to make the person who've done you wrong know what he did.

For fans of Pfeiffer and Lange, I recommend this movie. They gave one of the best performances of their careers. For those who are not, but you're a fan of good performances I also recommend this film.

Grade: B+ (the performances I give A)

21 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars True drama in every sense of the word, September 14, 2000

By 

Linda Linguvic (New York City) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: A Thousand Acres [VHS] (VHS Tape)

Based on the novel of the same name, this is the story of a farmer who signs over his farm to his adult daughters and the tragic results that follow.

It's not the type of movie I usually like. It's slow and talky with soap opera elements. However, perhaps it was because I saw this on video and the intimacy of the small screen was my own private viewing room, that I really got into it.

It was the excellent characterizations superbly acted by Jessica Lange, Michelle Pfieffer and Jason Robards that did it for me. The plot unfolded slowly and every scene revealed yet more about these characters. And even though it was set on a farm in Iowa with a very different life style than mine, I was able to get into their heads. I fell asleep thinking of the characters, not the actors who portrayed them, and was still haunted by them the next morning.

The movie is sad. There's sickness, betrayal, anger, weakness and unhappy resolution. True drama in every sense of the word. It works