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Shot in the Fall/Spring of 1989-90, "Blue Sky" wasn't actually released until 1994. The story involves a military family in the early 60s who move to an Alabama base. The wife (Jessica Lange) is erratic & bipolar and behaves like a loony Marilyn Monroe while the husband (Tommy Lee Jones) is unshakably faithful. The two daughters lament their mother's disorder, but the family's strong nevertheless. When the father goes to Nevada to work with bomb testing the commander of the base (Powers Boothe) has his eyes on the sexpot wife.

I don't follow film awards, but Jessica won an Oscar for her performance as the hysterical wife and she deserved it. For this reason many hail the first two acts of the film, and Tommy Lee as well. Unfortunately, her character comes across as unlikable and even scary. You start to feel sad for the daughters!

Some people criticize Boothe as being too dastardly of a villain. Don't believe it. Do these critics really think there aren't any high-ranking military personnel with a Genghis Khan complex? Men who think they're above the rules and can get away with anything their arrogant butts' desire? Boothe's character comes across as a solid military leader who's tempted by a subordinate's sultry wife and then does everything he can to save himself. This type of behavior is older than David and Bathsheba.

Some complain about how unbelievable the last act is. Two things: (1.) This is a movie and movies always amp up the dramatics. The filmmakers essentially have to do this because, well, it's a movie and they only have 2 hours to tell the story. (2.) Besides, the film's making a point about Lange's character and it's important to the story. ***SPOILER ALERT*** It shows that, as erratic and unlikable as she is in the first two acts, she redeems herself by literally risking everything for her husband. It's a powerful and necessary point. ***END SPOILER***

This is also a good film about life on a military base, like "The Great Santini" with some similarities to "Desert Bloom", albeit not quite as good as either.

The film was shot in Selma, Alabama, Florida and El Paso, Texas. It runs 101 minutes.

GRADE: B

The film is about the relationship of husband and wife, their troubles and how they cope with it. It also had a side plot about underground nuclear testing, which I don't think was that powerful or had that much of an impact for it to carry though as the finale, which also seem to be wrapped up uneventfully.

But the main story is their troubled relationship, and how through good, bad and worse they get through it with each other's support. Jessica Lange's performance as an unstable woman was amazing, not over the top in which it would have been typically done, but was portrayed truely and its fine nuance conveyed the subtle change in her mental state.

It is always a pleasure to watch giants in some film which is driven not by effects , explosions and rap-style language but by old-fashioned story and , simply , eye-popping acting , and two main actors , Mr T. Jones and , specially , Mme J. Lange deliver this in full . This smaller , cheaper film deals with the relationships between the military personnel and their spouses , where J. Lange portrays perfectly a lascivious southern belle with too grand illusions of an acting career, who with her sexual escapades becomes a sort of house-hold name in all the bases her husband is sent to , she being slightly neurotic , while tensions and constant arguments between the two are a norm , and their two beautiful daughters watch this in silence , being even more mature then their own mother . It is interesting to see Jones 's character always forgiving his wife , loving her completely , never hitting her , or calling her names .And when the viewer is almost certain that a typical and clichéd climax is inevitable , i.e. a fight between the couple with him stabbing his wife , the film takes a completely different turn , where Lange's character shows her southern true mettle and love for her husband, who becomes a victim of higher national interests . Briefly , a school of great , traditional acting ,light years away from today's self-proclaimed thespians with artificially rounded lips or feminine neurotic outbursts for no reasons , being on the same level as small children demanding a candy .

1994 was a year of weak female performances, but Jessica Lange's Oscar-winning turn in "Blue Sky" is a real sight to behold. She stars as the alcoholic wife of a well-to-do military nuclear engineer (Tommy Lee Jones). Jones knows of a cover-up by the military to keep nuclear testing in Nevada a secret in the early-1960s. This testing has no visual effect on anything in the environment (thus the name "Blue Sky"). Needless to say this is an intriguing film that is somewhat based on true testing which took place in sparsely populated areas of Nevada, Arizona, and New Mexico in the late-1950s and early-1960s. However, this film almost never saw the light of day. It was produced in 1991, but sat in an Orion Pictures vault for over three years. The film was finally released to generate revenue for the soon to be disbanded Orion. No one was ever clear on why the film was not initially released in 1991. Many speculate that director Tony Richardson's AIDS-related death may have had something to do with the studio's reluctance to release the film. This is just speculation, there is no proof of that. Its inability to get released is a bit of a mystery though. I mean a film with Jessica Lange and Tommy Lee Jones should have no trouble being released in my mind. Anyhow, this is Jessica Lange's greatest role. Tommy Lee Jones and Powers Boothe also give great supporting turns. 4 out of 5 stars.

wow! Jessica Lange is so good in this movie it is embarrassing! She owns the screen in every one of her scenes. Tommy Lee Jones to his credit- lets her be the star of the movie. Though the plot is a little implausible- just like David sent off Bathsheba's husband to certain death- to seduce her- the army didn't reckon with the power of a strong and slightly crazy woman. The teenagers in the film add to its poignancy. On the surface the Marshall family seems dysfunctional- but actually- with love they function very well.

This film had some really interesting scenes that made me watch the movie twice but that was enough. The story overall is a bit too messy.

Jessica Lange was a hoot as the manic-depressive flirtatious wife of Army Major "Hank Marshall." Boy, poor Hank had his hands full with "Carly" as his wife. Lange plays the role a little over-the-top but that's what makes her interesting here. It turns out to be a military soap opera film, if there is such a thing.

The soap angle came in not just between the Major trying to control his out-of- control wife, but the couple's poor daughters who had to live with this under their roof. Amy Klempp and Amy Locane played the sympathetic daughters.

There's more to the story, such as incidental things like nuclear bomb testing but, believe-it-or-not, that takes a back seat to Jones and Lange's marital woes. Frankly. when I write this, over 10 years after seeing the film, I wonder why I bothered watching this twice. I was a big fan of Jones, and maybe that was it, plus Lange looked good back then playing the blonde bombshell. This is one of the last films in which she looked this good as her "Tootsie" days were starting to wan.

"Blue Sky" might've made for a great night of television had it premiered on HBO or Showtime as a cable-film. With somewhat reduced expectations coupled with the intimacy of watching the movie on the small screen, one might be inclined to forgive the film for its lack of scope. Set in Alabama in the mid-1950s, Jessica Lange plays an Army engineer's wife and the mother of two young girls who is tired of being dragged from one military base to the next. She harbors a dangerous, possibly manic-depressive side, and makes life difficult for everybody--leaving a trail of gossip and bad blood behind her. Tommy Lee Jones is her patient, loving husband, and Powers Boothe is Jones' newest Commanding Officer who sees only Lange's sexy externals and desires her. All three performances are very good (with Lange winning the Best Actress Oscar, possibly due to a slow year for women in film); however, the picture takes a wrong turn in its third act and finishes limply. Wolfish Boothe becomes a deceitful villain (as if being a cheating husband wasn't enough!), while Lange's volatile Carly is sent out on a limb to save her husband from the clutches of the ignorant, power-hungry government. Had the script stayed true to the character conflicts (which would have matched the film's modest budget), this may have been an effective little soaper. Unfortunately, too many ambitious ideas are cranked out in the picture's squashy final stages, the result being a dramatic film which is dramatically unfulfilling. **1/2 from ****

Just as Shohei Ohtani cannot, by himself, take the Anaheim Angels to baseball greatness neither can Jessica Lange lift this film into the realm of goodness. Tony Richardson's last movie remains, after twenty nine years and despite Ms. Lange's powerful performance, a decent but flawed work.

The flaws, of course, can mostly be laid at the word processors of scenarists Rama Laurie Stagner, Arlene Sarner and Jerry Leichting. Not content to tell a simple but moving story of a troubled marriage between a too extroverted, aging Southern belle and a too introverted intellectual, set on an oppressive army base (are there any other kind?) in the South in the early sixties...think "Reflections In A Golden Eye" meets "Woman Under The Influence"...they concoct a truly ludicrous, 1970s, anti government paranoia tale complete with underground nuke tests, fallout, psychiatric incarceration and a kindly, bearded AEC official coming to the rescue (unfortunately, way too late to save the film). And so, by act three, we have left the relatable realm of relationships and recognizable emotions for Hollywood liberalism at its most amok. Or, to put it another way, we've gone from a good, gritty Tony Richardson film to Alan Pakula or Martin Ritt on a bad day.

Bottom line: Richardson shoulda gone out with the kitchen sink, not the paper shredder. Give it a C plus.

PS...Almost as depressing as Richardson's too early demise is seeing the star of "The Last Picture Show", twenty one years after that masterpiece, reduced to a non credited cameo as a cowboy with radiation poisoning.

In its only nomination in the Oscar sweepstakes for 1994 Jessica Lange won for Best Actress in Blue Sky. After watching Blue Sky I can certainly see why.

Blue Sky is set in the years of the Kennedy Administration and it's plot concerns a dedicated Army Major, Tommy Lee Jones and his family consisting of wife Jessica Lange and daughters Amy Locane and Anna Klump.

Jones is more than an army officer, he's a nuclear scientist and deeply concerned about the collateral effects of radiation on the population. I well remember the time. President Eisenhower in his second term of office made an unilateral executive decision to stop above ground nuclear testing, but the Russians continued. I well remember Premier Khrushchev in a bit of saber rattling, exploded a one hundred megaton hydrogen bomb.

Anyway President Kennedy decided at one point to resume nuclear testing to get the Russians back to the bargaining table for a nuclear test ban treaty. That's the background for this story and we all know that the first thaw in the Cold War was that test ban treaty that was ratified during the summer of 1963.

Anyway Jones is looking to ban it all, writing all kinds of reports that the army isn't taking too seriously and in fact transfers him from California to Alabama where he's told in no uncertain terms by his commander Powers Boothe to cool it. The military wasn't exactly thrilled with what Kennedy was trying to do.

But Jones has some pressing concerns on the domestic front. Jessica Lange is a lusty woman with needs and her husband isn't doing right by her. She looks like Marilyn Monroe and really does have all the army polishing its brass for her. Including Powers Boothe who sends Jones away so they can play.

It all ends in disaster, but Jessica summons up a lot more character than we would have first given her credit for to right the situation. It's in those last scenes that Jessica Lange brought home Oscar.

Young Chris O'Donnell is in the cast as well as Carrie Snodgrass as the son and wife of Boothe and O'Donnell the young man about to go to West Point finds out just what kind of rat his father really is. And Boothe does very well as the rat.

But in the last twenty minutes of the film Jessica's change in character dominates the film and it's reason enough to check out Blue Sky

It's the 60s. Nuclear engineer Capt. Hank Marshall (Tommy Lee Jones) monitors radiation hazards in the Army. His wife Carly (Jessica Lange) is wild and flirtatious. They move with their daughters Alex (Amy Locane) and Becky from the South Pacific to Fort Matthews in Alabama. Hank works under Col. Vince Johnson (Powers Boothe) in underground nuclear testing. Alex starts dating the colonel's son Glenn (Chris O'Donnell). Two cowboys accidentally get irradiated from a test. Carly has an affair with Vince. Vince tricks her into committing Hank into the mental ward in an effort to hide the affair and the cowboys' irradiation.

Jessica Lange flirts between sexual napalm and utter madness. Despite the craziness, she has great chemistry with Tommy Lee Jones. It could easily go camp but she makes it perfectly believable. TLJ shows some real passion. The family is dysfunctional but their connection is undeniable. The other parts with the military and nuclear testing do seem a little weaker. In the end, this is all about Lange.

You get the sense that we are meant to walk away from this film thinking it was something really special. Lange even won an Oscar for playing the bi polar slutty housewife.

I can't help but feel that it all falls apart, especially in the second half. Things get wrapped up far too quickly and easily, nothing though is really resolved, especially in a realistic manner.

In the end it's another film that leaves you wanting to watch something good.

There is an old Calypso ditty that states "If you want to be happy for the rest of your life, never take a pretty woman to be your wife." If you want to have a career in the Army, you might also want to avoid bi-polar women.

Tommy Lee Jones (The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada) was an Army Major, a nuclear engineer working on atomic tests, that had a gorgeous wife who was a little crazy. Jessica Lange (Broken Flowers) was awesome as his wife and won every award that year for her performance. She deserved every win in a movie that was a testament to love. No matter how crazy, Major Marshall (Jones) was there for her because of his love. And her love brought her out of her disorder long enough to save him.

This was director Tony Richardson's last film and he made it a winner all the way.

Filmed in 1990, but not released until 1994, due to Orion Pictures' bankruptcy, "Blue Sky" is a charming little period drama, the final film directed by Tony Richardson ("Tom Jones", "The Hotel New Hampshire"), the english filmmaker, ex-husband to Vanessa Redgrave and father to both the late Natasha & Joely Richardson, before his death due to complications from AIDS in 1991.

Written by Rama Stagner-Blum, partly biographical, with the help of Arlene Sarner & Jerry Leichtling, set in the early 60's, it tells the story of the Marshall family, constituted by Hank (Tommy Lee Jones), an Army Major nuclear engineer, his exuberant wife, Carly (Jessica Lange) and their two teenage daughters, Alex (Amy Locane) & Becky (Anna Klemp), who are transferred from Hawaii to an isolated base in Alabama, led by Colonel Johnson (Powers Boothe). Marshall is against open-air detonations of the A-bomb, code-named "Blue Sky", favoring the underground testings, colliding with Colonel Johnson's jingoism ambitions. At the same time, his lavishingly seductive wife, which suffers from bipolar disorder and likes to emulate Brigitte Bardot, Marilyn Monroe and Elizabeth Taylor in her looks and style, is having problems adapting to a different reality in the Alabama base, making it difficult to her husband's work...

Above all, "Blue Sky" is enriched by a tour-de-force performance by one of the greatest north-american actresses, Jessica Lange, who won her second Oscar for her performance as Carly Marshall here. Echoing her role in "Frances" ('82), in which Lange was snubbed for an Academy Award, winning that very same year, but for an inferior supporting performance in "Tootsie", Carly Marshall is one of this actress' best achievements. She's sexy, charming, seductive, engaging and madly genious, exploring the character's mental illness to the full, turning her sometimes, frivolous and flirty and other times, a caring loving wife and mother that would give all to protect and stand by her husband.

Tommy Lee Jones, which filmed this part before his Oscar nomination in "JFK" ('91) and his best supporting Oscar winning in "The Fugitive" ('93), was promoted to the leading man status and his newfound fame, enhanced the chances of "Blue Sky" to be finnally released to the big screens. His role of the 'good husband in the military' here reminds a lot his character in Oliver Stone's "Heaven & Earth" ('93), which was released first, but filmed later. It's a less showy part, if compaired with Lange's, but Jones pull it off nicely with subtlety and decency as the affable and understanding husband. Amy Locane delivers a good performance as the witty elder daughter and Chris O'Donnell appears as Johnson's teenage son in one of his first screen roles. The late great Powers Boothe, who was always effective in his virile on-screen persona either playing the hero or the baddie, is cynical as the narcissist militarist who seduces Marshall's wife.

Technically and artistically, "Blue Sky" is a nice looking film, the cinematography by Steve Yaconelli is adequate and Richardson's direction is character-driven like a stage play on film. The editing is kind of messy in certain parts, too many cuts in crucial scenes, like if the movie was in a urge to move along to the next act. This may be due to the several re-cuts made by the producers, after Richardson's passed away, to release an originally much longer film in the 90 minutes mark. It's apparent that the producers / new distributors still not believed in the film, until Lange started to get critical praise and consenquently, her Golden Globe and Oscar wins. Last, but not the least, the delightful memorable music score by Jack Nitzsche deserves an honorable mention.

In terms of its captivating screenplay, the major flaw is that the events in the third act are way too far-fetched to be believed, but if enjoyed as a feel good sunday afternoon film, acted by a group of great thespians compromised with their characters, "Blue Sky" is a charming experience not to be missed.

My vote is a 7.5 !!

I have admired Jessica Lange's acting ability for years. She is able to convey a bimbo-like image with such intelligence and strength, an achievement that few actresses could pull off well. It's easy to see from BLUE SKY why Lange was chosen to play Blanche Dubois in the TV version of "A Streetcar Named Desire." She plays in this Oscar-winning role an emotionally unbalanced wife and mother named Carly, the type of woman that makes small-town wives fend for the safety of their marriages. She is very sensual, sometimes obnoxious, and definitely a show-stopper. Tommy Lee Jones is a nuclear scientist employed in the military during the early sixties, fearful of another meltdown. He also has to secure his wife's sexual appetites, which could easily get out of control, especially around a libido-driven sargent played by Powers Boothe. The nuclear storyline, almost a backdrop,gets in the way of the meat of the plot, that of the sensuous Lange and the two daughters. I'm not saying the actors in this film don't have power, they most certainly do, but they seem to be caught in a run-of-the-mill soap opera coloured by nuclear testing. Jessica Lange does have an award-worthy part to play, but it belongs with more powerful material, reminiscent of something like "Streetcar."

this film was very interesting from both a storytelling view as well as a peek at military life. when a man or woman becomes an officer, the behavior of his/her family is always scrutinized. what shines through this story is the belief that you love a person with all the highs and lows.

lange's performance of what appears to be a bipolar woman handling the stress of the military life is very accurate. people handle stress in different ways and hers is with her living out personal desires and dreams.

jones shows unflinching devotion to his family as the glue that holds it together. he juggles his wife's erratic behavior with stoic calm while at the same time attempts to help his daughters cope with the challenges of a new move, their mother's antics and their own coming of age.

it has been mentioned that the daughters make a viewer feel sorry for them. on the contrary, children are critical of their parents without having the maturity to understand why they do the things they do. that is what this film is about: maturity.

the surrounding characters are believable and provide the main characters the ability to play off their substance, whether it is a megalomaniac of a commanding officer or a forever forgiving wife of such a man. as I said previously, it is the maturity of the characters that show how each handles the changing situations presented to them. it is well worth the watch.

Watching this movie was like watching one of those movies that don't know if they are a comedy or a drama but in this case, it's either a thriller or a melodrama, hence the melothriller.

It starts with a family moving to another army base where the dad is going to work on a secret nuclear project. As we watch him doing the big experiment we expect the techno-thriller twist in the style of Michael Chrichton or Stephen King, but instead, the movie turns into a Douglas Sirk melodrama. It goes on as a melodrama where Jessica Lange plays one of her typical roles of a woman on the border of a nervous breakdown. As she finally has her breakdown, the movie becomes soapy with great misunderstandings and bad people pulling the strings to destroy this suddenly great love story. As the last part ensues, the whole melodramatic buildup is dismissed as some B plot in a techno-thriller. So, the movie is neither thrilling nor melodramatic.

This was barely released and it shows--ending seems overly contrived and tacked on, the focus of the action (and our interest) swings wildly between three characters, but Jessica Lange is incandescent. Her performance is shockingly good, even for her.

Tony Richardson's final film was well-done. Carly Marshall (Jessica Lange) is the wife of military guy Hank Marshall (Tommy Lee Jones) in charge of atomic tests. Due to his frequent absence, she's beginning to lose her grip on mental sanity. Somewhere along the line, she reaches the breaking point, which also makes her see the folly in Hank's propagandistic work. She has no choice but to undermine it.

Jessica Lange finally won a well-deserved Best Actress Oscar for "Blue Sky" (she should have gotten one for "Frances"). Maybe some parts are a little hokey, but it's overall a good movie, looking at the nuclear age and also relationships.

This movie proves one important thing, a wonderful performance can save the whole movie. And Jessica Lange won her second Oscar by this film.

I think the plot is fine, it could be made better, but if consider it's Tony Richardson's last film, maybe we cannot be too picky. A desperate wife had an affair with his officer husband's military colleague, after her husband was framed o be responsible for a nuclear experiment failure by the colleague, and sent to a mental hospital. She finally realized what was most important in her life and she managed to rescue her husband from the wrong accusation.

Jessica acted a beautiful married woman whose husband was a military officer, they had to move from here to there. Their life is unstable because Jessica had become tired of this kind of living, and she could not let her life end like other officers' wives', spiritless, boring and charmless. She released her own enchantment, became outstanding among others, caused a love affair with a man, but eventually she woke up when she would lose her husband forever.

The relationship between husband and wife is the main core of this film, and thanks to Jessica's incredible performance, the change of her character is so convincing and touching in some level, although the rescue part was too hasty and questionable.

Jessica is definitely the only star of this film, so adorable and beautiful at that age. Tommy Lee Jones and Powers Boothe are just okay. I think this film can be re-maked but I do have no idea which actress can make it better!

Remember how visibly disappointed Jessica Lange was when she won her first Academy Award for Tootsie? Yes, it was ridiculous, she never should have been nominated, and she did a much better job in the same year's Frances - but as a professional actress, she should have acted happy and gracious. It took her twelve years to get the award she really wanted, Best Actress, for the film Blue Sky.

Blue Sky isn't a terrible movie, but it just isn't very interesting. It plays into the stereotype that passionate, promiscuous women are insane. Haven't we evolved from 1948's The Snake Pit? In the days of melodrama and silent films, it made sense to portray a woman's insanity by showing she has lost her sense of propriety. But in 1994, I think we could have done better. Jessica Lange is also an attractive woman, and it felt a little insulting that she had to turn into a sex fiend to win an Oscar. Were voters so superficial as to need to feel titillated before voting for an accomplished actress?

I'm a huge Jessica Lange fan. As a board member of the Hot Toasty Rag Awards, I submitted nominations for her performances in Frances, Country, Sweet Dreams, Everybody's All-American, and Cape Fear. I loved her in The Postman Always Rings Twice, Men Don't Leave, and A Streetcar Named Desire. I can't help but think Blue Sky was a make-up Oscar for those other performances. As the injured party who has to continually apologize for his wife and endure her hurts, didn't Tommy Lee Jones have more acting to do? Rent this movie and see if you agree.

Jessica Lange's Oscar-Winning Performance in 'Blue Sky', is Stunning! The 2-Time Academy-Award Winning Legendary Actress once again lights the screen on fire by delivering such a stunning performance.

'Blue Sky' is set in the 1960's, where a nuclear engineer faces a lot of difficulties in his professional & personal life.

'Blue Sky' is a depressing film. The journey its characters go through, the entire story, is very depressing. But, that's exactly how this story is supposed to be: Difficult & Unsettling. It's certainly not meant for the Faint-Hearted, as the drama in here is No-Holds-Barred.

Rama Laurie Stagner, Arlene Sarner & Jerry Leichtling's Screenplay is devastating & very effective. Tony Richardson's Direction is good. Cinematography, Editing & Art Design, are nice.

Lange's Oscar-Winning Performance is the prime reason to watch 'Blue Sky'. It's an unforgettable performance, that leaves an haunting impact. Also Terrific is Tommy Lee Jones, who plays the troubled husband, with great control & understanding.

On the whole, 'Blue Sky' is depressing, but Lange's Oscar-Winning Performance makes it a must see. Strongly Recommended!

Lange's Best Actress win for this movie has not aged well for many of the movie reviewers and Oscar pundits I read and listen to regularly. It doesn't help that 1994 is arguably one of the worst years for actresses in recent history. That being said, I honestly find Lange pretty mesmerizing and hypnotically watchable here - she IS the movie. No one plays borderline mentally unstable and carnally sexual characters better than Lange, and if nothing else, this film touches on all her strengths as an actress. The film surrounding her is very good if not great, but it frankly dives whenever Lange is offscreen. Jones is always a reliable actor, but he feels a little on automatic pilot here. There are some nice supporting turns, including Carrie Snodgress as Boothe's wife, but Hurricane Jessica pretty much blows through this movie leaving no stone unturned. And I personally have no problem with her Best Actress victory. Interestingly, this film was made around four years before its release but remained on the shelf indefinitely due to financial problems with its studio. So, in many ways, it's a miracle that this film saw the light of day let alone became an Oscar winner.

I decided to rate this film as a 5. I know that's slightly lower than some, but here's why.

Jessica Lange plays her part very well, albeit in a breathless sort of Marilyn Monroe style. The part is not earth shattering, it's the kind of part Lange does well and doesn't have to try too hard. However for me she never seemed to change during loving scenes with her husband, tense scenes with a would be lover, and excitable, dramatic scenes at the nuclear test site. She had the one gear the whole way through.

Tommy Lee Jones was the same although that's his style of acting.

However the story is as old as man: power corrupts people, and they use to to hurt the innocent and to get what they want. The only way to beat them is to get more power than them. And this is precisely what happened in this story.

I didn't hate it I enjoyed the film, but it was flawed.