The Long Hot Summer (1985)

A drifter (Don Johnson) with a reputation as a "barn burner" arrives at a small Southern town run by the patriarch (Jason Robards) of the Varner family. The old man takes a liking to the drifter and even urges him to get involved with his spinster daughter (Judith Ivey) while his own son (William Russ) seethes with anger at being displaced. Although the screenplay is attributed to Rita Mae Brown and Dennis Turner based on the William Faulkner novel THE HAMLET, the film is based more on the 1958 film version of the same name rather than Faulkner's book. Some of the dialog is taken verbatim from the previous Irving Ravetch and Harriet Frank screenplay. The first half of the film stays closely to the 1958 film but the last 40 minutes drifts off with material that is neither from Faulkner nor the 1958 film and it deflates quickly. Up until then, it was a solid piece of entertainment, well done. The acting however is uneven, ranging from awful (William Russ) to adequate (Don Johnson) to good (Judith Ivey). And I could have done without the hideous droning synthesizer score by Charles Bernstein. Directed by Stuart Cooper. With Ava Gardner (wasted), Cybill Shepherd, James Gammon and Wings Hauser.