O Pioneers! (1992)

In turn of the century Nebraska, a father (Cork Ramer) leaves his farm and its land to his daughter (Heather Graham, who later morphs into Jessica Lange) over his two sons (Graham Beckel, Adam Nelson) because she loves the land as much as he does. Based on the novel by Willa Cather and directed by Glenn Jordan (ONLY WHEN I LAUGH). The film follows the Cather novel closely which should please the book's fans. I'm not so sure about its execution. The movie could have used some vitality, a sense of a love of the land. Jessica Lange is one of the best actresses of her generation but this is one of her weaker performances. Her acting is seems self conscious and I could never quite accept her as a pioneer farm woman which is odd because she was fantastic in COUNTRY (1984) as a farm wife. It's not bad, in fact, it's quite a respectable effort which I understand is weak praise. With Anne Heche (giving the film's best performance), David Strathairn, Leigh Lawson, Tom Aldredge, Reed Diamond and Josh Hamilton.