Amber Waves

Despite its simple plot, this television movie can be viewed on several levels. This story of a stranded model who reluctantly takes a temporary job on a wheat harvesting crew is about the values we cherish. Kurt Russell as the model and Dennis Weaver as the cancer-stricken harvester who needs help on his crew lend real credibility to their roles. In less than two hours the script tells us the meaning of life and death and what love is and what it isn't. This film tells us about the self-renewal which can come from hard work and responsibility.

Kurt Russell plays Larry, a male model who is stranded in a small Kansas town when he screws up a photo shoot. He literally runs into Dennis Weaver, who is looking for a warm body for his harvesting crew. He isn't too particular or he wouldn't hire this man who has never done a honest days work and has the hands to show it. Despite some rough moments Russell learns the value of hard work and becomes a leader on the crew.

Several subplots are cleverly weaved into the delightful mix. Dennis Weaver finds that he has cancer and is advised by his doctor to "bail out". This is easier said than done, because he has obligations to farmers whose wheat must be cut. He reaches out to his son, who fled to Canada because of his objection to the war. It is obvious that there is still tension between the two of them and the son returns to Canada. There is a competing harvester (played by Wilford Brimley) whose son went to Viet Nam and was maimed. Mare Winningham plays Weaver's daughter, a girl who is looking for a ticket to a new life. In the end Larry offers the only hope for another harvest.

The focus of this film is the relationship between Russell and Weaver. Despite the difference in their backgrounds, they have much in common. They meet on a day which has not been kind to either of them. Russell has lost his job and Weaver has discovered his cancer. "It's been that kind of day", he tells Russell. Uneasy and volatile at first, the relationship develops into one of affection and even love.

Filmed in Canada there is much more emphasis on scenery than usual in this television movie. "Do you ever get tired of this?", Russell asks Weaver as he gazes across the wheat fields framed in the setting sun. I don't know about him, but I never did.

I agree with all the other reviewers in that this is quite a well made movie, however you don't have watch too closely to see that actually not a lot of wheat gets cut by these custom cutters. In scenes with the combines, they spend most of their time just driving aimlessly around an already cut field in the dark or even worse making it appear like they are cutting wheat by in fact just driving the machine through some scrub grass. Some minimal stock footage was used of combines in wheat but it amounts to seconds of the film.

Its sad that the movie could not have had the chance to get some decent shots of the machines doing the job.

This is the only major factual fault in what really is a well produced, directed and acted TV movie.

Amber Waves is a rarely-seen TV movie about wheat harvesters in the American midwest. As an Englishman, I found much of the film interesting purely because it is about a way of life totally unfamiliar to me. The landscapes are very nicely photographed, and the leading performances from Dennis Weaver and Kurt Russell are pretty engaging.

The story is about a grizzled old harvester named Bud Burkhardt (Weaver) who learns that he is dying from lung cancer. His attitudes to life are simple: work hard, be reliable and fight for your corner when you have to. However, he finds himself in a peculiar position, since he needs an operation desperately if he is to have any hope of survival, yet he doesn't have the time to be recuperating on a hospital bed when there's a harvest to be gathered. Should he put his life first, or his responsibility to deliver the crop? He hires an extra harvester in the shape of a young, failed magazine model (Russell) who initially hates hard labour, but soon comes to realise that the responsibility and drive of honest hard work is good for the soul.

There's nothing remarkable about the plot, which has elements of disease-of-the-week cliches and lots of long, loving sequences showing men driving around fields in combine harvesters. However, the engaging performances and the lovely photgraphy keep you interested. The film isn't as moving as I thought it might be (given the potentially tear-jerking storyline). There's one moving scene where Weaver phones his long estranged son and begs him to come home, but other than that the opportunities for powerful emotional scenes are generally missed.

On the whole, Amber Waves is a run-of-the-mill TV movie which has some nice touches and agreeable, interesting moments but doesn't quite hit the emotional level that it seems to be aiming for.

This is a beautiful film, wonderfully acted with subtly and nuance; well written, well directed. I wish I could find it on DVD or streaming...

Kurt Russell shines in a role that could easily have been shallowly depicted. Similarly, Dennis Weaver does a great job and avoids over-playing into melodrama. This is wonderful early work by Mare Winningham. Even if you're not surprised by the ending, it is no less beautiful and quietly, realistically played.

I saw this made-for-TV film when it aired 38 years ago. I recall it being much better than anticipated with cinematography featuring stunning landscapes and competent dramatic performances.