Promises To Keep (1985)

Diagnosed with a life threatening illness, a Wyoming ranch foreman (Robert Mitchum) makes the trek to California for treatment. On the way, he decides to visit the family he deserted 30 years earlier, his wife (Claire Bloom) and son (Christopher Mitchum, Robert's son). Directed by Noel Black (PRETTY POISON). While you know exactly where a melodrama like this is going and in spite of the cliches involved, for most of its running time it's not bad at all. This is mostly due to Black's sensitive direction and strong performances by the iconic Mitchum and Claire Bloom who brings a depth of unstated emotions not in the writing. The film's last twenty minutes or so sink into a morass of banality that undermine the good that came before. There's a third Mitchum in the cast. Robert's grandson and Christopher's son Bentley Mitchum, who's pretty bad and doesn't appear to have inherited any of the Mitchum talent. The score by Michel Legrand helps things along. With Tess Harper and Paul Mantee.