Murphy's Romance (1985)

Powerful

Just perfect...

Good story, Not enough for a whole film

Crappy film

This is one of my favorite movies; it is beautifully done on all levels. Not too heavy on the romance and the humor is adult without being R rated. I can't really add anything to what other reviewers have said, but I do take issue with the person who said Sally Field looked like she was cracking up in the sneezing scene...Not at all so. I didn't see anyone else mention something that gives a funny touch of reality - it's easy to miss - in that same (sneezing) scene, just as she's passing Bobby Jack and sneezing (yes, obviously a tactic to discourage his advances), she lets out a little fart. I have seen this movie many times and never tire of it - give it a try, you won't regret it.

Directed by Martin Ritt, "Murphy's Romance" stars Sally Field as Emma Moriarty, a middle aged woman who travels with her twelve year old son to Eunice, Arizona. Here she fixes up a ranch and falls in love with an elderly widower, played by James Garner.Ritt conveys a certain cosy, small town atmosphere, and packs his film with a number of neat little moments (bingo games, family meals, local dances etc), but this is largely a formulaic and easy flick. The film ends with the arrival of Emma's ex husband, which leads to a muted love triangle.Incidentally, Ritt's films tend to take place exclusively in Arizona or around the Deep South. Such films include "Long Hot Summer", "Hud", "Hombre", "The Sound and The Fury", "The Great White Hope", "Sounder", "Conrack", "Norma Rae", "Back Roads" and "Cross Creek".7/10 – Ritt's pleasantly easy-going direction struggles to elevate the material. Worth one viewing.

Sally Field plays a single mother who moves to a small Texas town with her son (Corey Haim). She befriends the local pharmacist (James Garner), and a small romance starts to develop. It's quickly interrupted by her loser ex-husband (Brian Kerwin), who, despite her obvious signals against it, wants to get back together. Or he just wants to freeload on her, more likely. This is meant to be a small, gentle picture. It's somewhat enjoyable, but it never achieves the small gem status it so desperately wants. In the end, it's kind of dull and forgettable. James Garner received an Oscar nomination for his role. The Academy must have really had a lot of Rockford fans in it. The guy does not give an Oscar-worthy performance. He's an uninteresting character, really, and the fact that he's so much older than Field makes you not root for him to get the girl. Better are Field and Kerwin, though neither of them are exactly award-worthy, either (Field did, however, receive a Golden Globe nomination).

"I show some wear. I don't deny it " says Murphy Jones, well into his fifties and widowed, to Emma Moriarty, well into her thirties and divorced with a young son. "If the fruit hangs on the tree long enough, it gets ripe. I'm durable, I'm steady and I'm faithful. And I'm in love for the last time in my life." "I'm in love for the first time in my life," Emma says. "So?" "So...stay for supper, Murphy?" "I won't do that," Murphy says, "unless I'm still here for breakfast." Emma looks at him. "How do you like your eggs," she asks. What better Valentine Day's card than Murphy's Romance, a mature, funny and wise valentine of a movie for people fortunate enough to have found long-lasting love the first time or have been given an opportunity for a second chance. Emma (Sally Field), divorced and wanting to start a new life for herself and her son, has rented a broken-down horse ranch in Arizona where she hopes to make a living boarding and training horses. She has little money, can't get a loan and knows no one in the small, nearby town. Murphy Jones (James Garner) is the town's pharmacist. He owns the drug store on Main Street. It still has an old-fashioned soda fountain. When Emma walks in and orders a lemon Coke, he makes it the old fashioned way...Coke syrup, seltzer water and juice from a squeezed lemon. He's a friendly enough sort, realistic about things, thinks he knows people and is a little stubborn...like his Twenties Studebaker he keeps polished to perfection and parked right in front of the store...and he'll pay the parking fines if he has to 'cause he's not moving the car. Little by little the two of them come across each other in the small town. When Emma asks what kind of place it is, Murphy says, "Oh, small, friendly, nosy. You can carry a gun, but you can't get an abortion." "I don't want to do either," says Emma. With time, Emma's horse boarding business begins to look better. Then Emma's ex shows up, a friendly, charming ne'er-do-well. He's as reliable as next week's weather forecast. He charms his son and tries to charm Emma again. But he's broke, she feels sorry for him, so she let's him stay. Then Murphy starts regularly showing up at the ranch. He has a horse being boarded by Emma. It's not long before Murphy is invited by Emma to dinner many an evening. Things happen that send her ex back out of her life. And Murphy and Emma bring things to a happy close with that question about eggs. Murphy's Romance has no mysteries about it. We know Murphy and Emma will wind up together the moment Emma walks into the drug store and orders the lemon Coke. What the movie does so effectively and with so much charm and affection is show us two adults, with personalities and quirks we come to like, slowly, warily finding ways to demonstrate how they feel about each other. Its depiction of a mature romance is low-key, almost matter-of- fact, and is driven by the laid-back style of James Garner and the cautious, hard-working vulnerability of Sally Field. What keeps the movie interesting is that wary, developing interest the two of them find in each other. Watching it grow slowly over corned beef hash and bingo, over an ice cream cone and a birthday cake, over Emma's concern about her son and Murphy's refusal to own up to his age (he does, finally)...is amusing and satisfying. It helps that the depiction of this small town is just as low-key and friendly as the story-line. There's no small-town condescension. The movie house open only Thursdays through Sundays, the bingo parlor, the one cafe, the barbecue at Emma's ranch, Murphy's birthday party, all are presented straight up with affection, with nothing dramatic added. Murphy's Romance is simply a very nice movie with a warm, literate screenplay and two appealing lead actors.