Back Roads (1981)

the audience applauded

Thanks for the memories!

it is finally so absorbing because it plays like a lyrical road odyssey that’s also a detective story.

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

Amy Post (Sally Field) is a low rent prostitute in Alabama. She gets caught up with jobless drifter ex-boxer customer Elmore Pratt (Tommy Lee Jones) as they go off on a rambling road trip.Norma Rae director Martin Ritt reunites with Sally Field. I think it's intended as a grimy tough rom-com. Whether it's the script or the much rumored bad relationship between Field and Jones, the couple is plagued with bitter anger and the chemistry is never good. The movie is filmed in a low rent 70s style Grime-o-Vision. It works sometimes like playing pinball in a roadside bar but mostly it looks like a poorly made indie. In the end, the relationship never blossoms as it's suppose to. Sally Field does have a good breakdown, but Tommy Lee Jones have the acting range of a grumpy old man.

Just recently checked out this little known film from 1981 called "Back Roads" and I knew it would be a winner when it had Tommy Lee Jones and Sally Field in it and I was right the chemistry had worked. This is a heartfelt little tale of struggle and a journey of survival it touches your emotions showing that everyone has good in them and life is an unexpected journey. Set in the deep rural south I believe Alabama you have Sally Field as Amy Post a sweet and love like street walking hotel staying hooker who earns 20 dollars for each bang she gives. Things shakeup a little bit when she meets the rough and rugged Elmore Pratt(Tommy Lee Jones) a man who's dreams of becoming a prize fighter has blown up in smoke as now he moonlights as a taxi car washer! After hooking up the two decide to journey out to California the best way they can as money will not stop them. This is an interesting journey in which both each learn respect, love and courage it proves life is a journey of discovery and learning how to love. Overall good little underrated gem to watch.

This movie was an upside down love story of two people who were unlikely to end up together. It was great to watch because you know what's going to happen in the end, but you want to see how they get there. The one problem I had with this movie was Sally Field playing a prostitute. It just didn't seem believable to me. Sally Field looks to innocent and sweet to play a character like this. Tommy Lee Jones, on the other hand is just great. He plays the part of a drifter that moves from town to town and does almost everything to survive, but also maintains a good heart towards this woman(Sally Field)that wants nothing to do with him. If you are going to watch it, watch it for Tommy Lee Jones. One other thing, they should of chosen more than just one song for the movie. The theme song plays about 3 or 4 times throughout the movie. This is one movie that I would love to see remade. It's a timeless movie.

There's nothing more exciting than seeing a slick Hollywood player like Sally Field getting down-and-dirty like she does in "Back Roads". At one point, she and her two male pals (Tommy Lee Jones and David Keith) are at a county fair and have no money. No problem! Sally fixes her hair and says to the guys, "Don't wait up." She knows how to make money (with her body) and nonchalantly sets out to do it. She's proving nothing to no one--it's second-nature to her--and when Keith calls her a 'whore' she tells him, "A whore is a sixteen-year-old with a bad reputation. I...am...a...hustler!" There are many moments to cherish in this rough jewel: Field standing outside the school where the little boy she gave up for adoption attends, running into his angry mother; Field writing a letter to the same child, telling him how sorry she is; Jones and Field getting off their bus after a fight and going their separate ways, each trudging down two dusty streets. It's a top-notch road comedy with Field and Jones overcoming the obvious sentimentality of the overall conception and making a memorable duo. *** from ****