O Romance de Murphy

Jim and Sally are brilliant in this easy yarn of a couple falling in love, even though he is a good 15 years old than her. Proves age doesn't mean a cracker. The ex-husband sub-plot is a waste of movie time, but it has no effect on the final outcome. Bravo for an excellent story and outstanding acting!

James Garner and Sally Field make an appealing couple involved in a May-December romance. This theme has been done before in films but Garner and Field bring a freshness that gives the production credibility as they form a casual friendship that intensifies as time passes. Field's troublesome and immature ex-spouse shows up to try to win her back and his presence causes an awkward, strained triangle that resolves itself in due course. Garner is a relaxed middle-aged pharmacist who is comfortable with himself and takes each day as it comes. Field is determined to make a new life for herself and her son as a horse trainer in a small Arizona town. Brian Kerwin and Corey Haim as Field's ex-husband and young son are good in supporting roles.

Sure, this is a romantic comedy, but I wouldn't call it a chick flick. It's a great story, and all the principals work effortlessly towards making the film just downright entertaining.

Garner is at his best as an understatedly charming small-town pharmacist who becomes entangled in the life of a fiercely independent single mother with a deadbeat ex-husband. Field hits all the right notes with her character, but I can't tell if she's stepping back, or she just doesn't know how to play against Garner's lackadaisical style. Brian Kerwin gives his best screen performance as her ex, and sure, he plays a deadbeat, but he just oozes sex appeal.

Utterly charming romance-comedy. Young, divorced mother Emma (Fields) buys run-down ranch turning it into a horse barn and training corral. With only her adolescent son to help, she's having a rough go of it. Aging town druggist Murphy (Garner) strikes up a friendship, but age difference keeps them apart. Still, the personality attraction is there. Then, out of nowhere, her no-goodnik ex (Kerwin) shows up wanting to move in. Emma is on guard, but he is the boy's father. So how will things work out in the hardscrabble Southwestern setting.

The petite Fields is utterly winning as the gritty Emma. If you can buy her restoring and maintaining a ranch house and grounds pretty much by herself then the rest is easy. Garner, of course, is Garner, but with a little more edge than usual. There's no Maverick here (except for the poker game), still the natural charm surfaces when needed. It's a rather laid-back screenplay, in no hurry to get where it's going. But the dialog is superbly calibrated, the humor more subtle than snappy or obvious. Also, small town atmosphere is well integrated into events, especially the community dance with its ordinary-looking people. And scope out that hay bale contest, seeing who can roll a hay bale fastest. And catch Charles Lane as the cranky old man. Here he's already 80, and lived to 102!—with a career that started in 1930.

This is really Fields' film. You can't help rooting for her small winsome woman against such big odds. But it's hard to imagine anyone else in either of the two leads. All in all, the film's a fine character study with comedic overtones and should not be missed.

I love this movie. I have watched it numerous times, and I still love it! It is one of those "feel good" movies that we seldom see anymore. No violence, no sex, no "strong language", etc. Just a strong woman, and a strong man, gradually falling in love. No negatives at all. If you want to watch a pleasant movie, and go to bed feeling happy, watch this. James Garner and Sally Field both play very non-Hollywood types, and we love them all the more for it. (Watch for the scene where they are dancing - it is hysterical!)