"The Run of the Country" fulfills the early-to-mid-20th Century rural mannerism of class, character, and personal struggle after a series of dashed hopes during a passage of life. Disney's old hero worship lingers well in this flick, which in turns hits that image with reality. How a young man becomes a man happens in many ways and this film portrays the farm lad derivative. Boy lives a sad reality, boy thinks he has found solace from sad reality, sad reality returns the rebuff, boy returns to sad reality, and boy pursues new venture despite the sting of sad reality.
I liked the mode and standing of the storyline to this film, reading like an old novel one would read from the archives or see in a soap opera drama/adventure.
I watched the film like I would any paperback-novel-turned-film but when Victoria Smurfit popped up, I took better notice because I had the sensual hot spot for her since "Ballykissangel" when she replaced my previous interest Dervla Kerwin. The unsung natural beauty was the right filler for Annagh...and call me a pervert for this but to finally see Victoria Smurfit nude after imagining it from only two provocative scenes from "Ballykissangel" fulfilled an old dream, the fulfillment of which gave me reason to pursue viewing the rest of the movie.
Much like "Little House on the Prairie" was in the 70's, this Irish variation of a "Little House" 2-part episode is specifically meant for those with the soft heart for country life and times, good and bad, with the specter of then-modern Ireland working into the fabric of the story.
