A lot of fun.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

There's a more than satisfactory amount of boom-boom in the movie's trim running time.

Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

It is 1963, and Lurene like a lot of Americans loves the Kennedy's almost to the level of hero worship. Perhaps it is her only escape from a life that consists of servitude to an indifferent husband who stays glued to the tube.Then a light comes into her life, as she receives that news that John and Jacqueline Kennedy are coming to Dallas. She takes a neighbor with her, a woman in a wheelchair mostly along so that Lurene can get through the crowd at the airport.Suddenly a murmur goes through the crowd and we already know what has happened. John's murder hits Lurene like one of her own. She decides, against her husband's protest that she must go to the funeral in Washington.Along the way she stumbles across a black man (Dennis Hysbert) and his daughter. She automatically assumes that the girl is kidnapped and later realizes her mistake. This takes on a series of events that leaves them in a stolen car running from the law.This is where the movie falls apart. I was so content to let this movie be a character study about two people trapped, she in a boring marriage, he in a society that is trained to hate him. I thought the director Jonathan Kaplan would be content with just these two people. Instead he piles on an unnecessary and distracting plot developments.Michelle Pfeiffer's performance is wonderful, giving us a woman who has led a sheltered and boring life. A lot of her best dialogue in the movie is made up of assumptions that she has about this man. Hysbert is the perfect counterpoint, a man who has seen more of the world and realizes the dangers surrounding him.'Love Field' is a movie that has a smooth unforced flow in it's first 45 minutes then feels compelled to weigh it down with a lot of plot baggage. I loved the rapport between the characters in this movie but the ebb and flow of the development of their characters get bogged down with too many bumps in the road.

I had always skipped over this movie, although I'm not sure why. I guess I had in my mind what it was about...not sure where that idea came from...and I was wrong. So, I watched this one evening when I wasn't feeling very well and, WOW, what a great film.I thought it was interesting how they tied in 2 separate plots -- the assassination of JFK and the pairing up of an interracial couple...seemingly unrelated, yet the JFK part of the story set the time very nicely, thus making possible the story of the interracial couple. On the other hand, as the story wends its way to a conclusion, there are a few loose ends...like how they got away from the police a few times...but, it's a movie, and the point of the story isn't exactly their being wanted by the police...it's just one aspect of the story.This may be Michelle Pfeiffer at her best (which would explain the Oscar nomination). I'm impressed with her here, and I say that as a person who is not a particular fan. Dennis Haysbert is excellent as the "Negro", and he plays the part just right for the time the story is taking place. Stephanie McFadden as the young daughter is excellent here. I was pleased to see Louise Latham in the film; a character actress I had forgotten about, but always appreciated over the years when she was still active.Don't let a few of the reviews here stop you from watching this film. It's a strong film, nicely done, good production values, and rather true to the time period in which the story takes place.I was tempted with an "8", but instead give it a very strong "7".

This movie is not only tells the story of the accidental connection of two people, one black and one white, who would probably have never met in their normal lives, it also presents a vivid portrait of the time in which they lived. Set against the background of the JFK assassination and the aftermath, the protagonists meet and help each other through turning points in their lives. At first wary of each other, they come to understand the forces which have shaped each other's personalities and then come to appreciate the humanity and longing they have in common. Segregation and prejudice on both sides are explored without preaching. Finally it ends if not happily at least on a note of hope.

Love Field is the kind of movie where you just know the words `set against the backdrop' were used in its pitch: A love story between a black man and a white woman, set against the backdrop of the Kennedy assassination. It's not a particularly comfortable mix of ideas.What's strange is that it handles both threads rather well, if taken separately. The sense of shock at the assassination feels genuine for the most part, mainly because of the inclusion of a contemporary news clip as the newsreader struggles to find words and clear his throat as he announces Kennedy's death.The love story is rather less successful, but comes close to being touching every so often. As Michelle Pfeiffer makes her way to the Kennedy funeral, she meets Dennis Haysbert and his daughter on a long-distance coach. Their growing fondness for each other is mostly convincing, and we should be grateful that there is no mutual-animosity to change to affection, an idea so old it can ruin a movie immediately. Regardless of their individual merits, combine these threads together and the movie starts to unravel. Its heart is in the right place so it can't really be called tasteless, but it skirts the edges a little too often. In one scene we have to switch from the travellers spending a restful night at a friend's house to them watching the TV as Lee Harvey Oswald is shot. This kind of uncomfortable transition is made a number of times, and grates on each of them, none more so than in the climax, when Jackie Kennedy looks at Pfeiffer as she is driven past her on the way to her husband's funeral. Its intention was certainly not to trivialise the assassination, but too often it seemed to be used for dramatic effect in an otherwise unrelated love story.The film seemed to lack confidence; believing that its main story was simply not interesting enough, it included racism, segregation, wife-beating, kidnapping and child abuse for good measure. These darker tones were treated with the gentle touch as everything else, which didn't earn them the credibility they deserved.Love Field probably aimed too high. It just didn't have the weight to carry off the issues it dealt with or the messages it tried to send out. Had the assassination been played down it could have been a great love story. Had the love story been played down it could have been a great story about segregation. Had segregation been played down it could have been a great movie about the impact of the assassination on the lives of ordinary people. It tried to be all these things together, and together they weakened their own credibility.It seems harsh to include these criticisms of a movie that was lightweight and mostly enjoyable, but that was the problem; a film that dealt with these issues shouldn't have been lightweight or enjoyable. Its tone wasn't dark enough to pull them off. It was a nice enough movie, with good performances from Pfeiffer and Haysbert, but it asked too much of itself and forced us to ask the same.