Timothy R. Smith
.Other reviewers have already done an excellent job of covering this film's worthwhile messages and themes. That said, I'm not often fond of "family" films because, all too often, they are unrealistic and too sugary sweet. Friendship's Field is none of that. Moreover, it is graced with excellent direction, fine cinematography, and unbelievably great acting. For these reasons taken together, over time Friendship's Field has become my favorite film, and like most people reading this review, I've seen many really fine films.Let's talk about the acting first, as this is the most outstanding feature of this film. Although every single actor in the film was excellent, I'll mention only some. Jonathan Hernandez plays a solid role as the likable young Mexican boy, Oscar, who becomes a close summertime friend with the film's lead character, Ira. His role is complex, his mood often flashing between a cheerful disposition with a winsome smile, to being deeply hurt by the racist events that surround him. Jonathan plays his part so well the viewer quickly forgets this boy is acting. Oscar's mother and brother, played superbly by Maria Carr and Mark Hardy, though their parts are shorter, add a lot of depth to the film.Ira's three older sisters, Jane, Afton, and Rene, very well-played by Melissa Moor, Jennifer Buckalew, and Jessica Giauque, respectively, capture the time and place of the film in their own way and very believably for their ages. Dialogue with the girls is not window dressing but instead adds quite a bit of dimension, especially to the lead character, Ira. Melissa has a longer, more developed role in the script and, as the oldest child, appeals in a casual rather than heavy-handed way as a good role model for her other sisters. Melissa easily convinces us of her character's integrity and sense of responsibility, and is particularly good at facial expressions that often convey more meaning in the film than a lot more words in the script would. Ira's parents, played by Randy King and Carolyn Hurlburt, show patient restraint with all their children. Finally, let's talk about Ira, a very complex role played brilliantly by Kate Maberly, a truly gifted person of extraordinary talent. As a young person, Kate is better known for her exceptional performance in "The Secret Garden," but I personally think Friendship's Field was her very best performance to date. In this role, there's no doubt whatsoever about the fact Ira is a sun-kissed short-hair tomboy of the first order. Ira is on a journey learning about life, some of it good and some not so good, which will likely be a journey that doesn't end: "life is like a river." Close to her patient parents, Ira is at an age where she explores outside her family now, and develops unlikely friendships, like with Oscar. Ira lives on a farm in Idaho, so the energetic, athletic kid regularly gets a little dust and dirt on her well broken-in clothes. In spite of her friskiness, Ira is often quiet and introspective. Although a child, she's a real person, with all the complications of a real person. Overall, the character is drawn with a warmth that can melt the coldest heart. So what makes Kate's performance so special in this role? For starters, the role is so natural for Kate she just seems to be playing herself. Maybe that's really the case here, maybe this role wasn't so much of an act for the real Kate Maberly. Second, one of Kate's greatest strengths as an actor is that she doesn't overact, and this tomboy role is one that could have been very easily overacted, even by other good actors. Now, Kate is British, and I've heard her talk in interviews and in British films with a delightful Surrey accent. The best actors can manage taking on believable dialects and accents, which is what Kate does here. We might say she delivers her lines with a flawless American dialect of English, which she does. But it goes even farther, because there happen to be many accents of American English. Idaho is one of the Rocky Mountain states, these states have a unique sound to them, and Kate nails that in this film. Kate intentionally delivers one line in the film with a charming Scots accent, and she's obviously got that down, too. (Is there anything this girl can't do?) In the entire film, young Kate Maberly never missed once on the delivery of a line, an expression, a motion, or emotion. Her performance was perfect throughout. Other actors, including the high-paid Hollywood superstars today, should watch Kate Maberly's performance in Friendship's Field; some of them could learn a few things they may not have known about acting. This film did not direct itself. Bruce Niebaur directed it and, as the acting attests, he was able to bring out the very best of every performer, with the result being an amazingly good film. Following Friendship's Field, Kate would later play in "Gulliver's Travels," which also included the legendary Omar Sharif, and Bruce Niebaur would direct Kate again in "Mysteries of Egypt," in which the girl appears as Mr. Sharif's granddaughter. These later opportunities for Kate are likely not mere coincidences, but undoubtedly stem from her incomparable talent at a young age. My only complaint about Friendship's Field is that it could have been somewhat longer, but I'm sure the budget had something to do with that. More scenes with Ira and Oscar would have always been welcome. It would have also been interesting to develop the characters of Rene and Afton a little more, as was done for Jane. Friendship's Field is not going to turn the world upside-down. It's not going to blow you away. But, it has become my favorite film, it's remarkable for its well-directed acting, and it's great entertainment. Give it a try, it's well worth it.
annevejb
This tries to look at some details of the story content, together with some detail in related films. I use those words rather than saying spoiler. For some this could detract from the story, others not. I purchased this DVD, together with In The Blink Of An Eye of 1996, because they are the first and second of the three features in which Randi-Lynn Strong has acted, so far. The last is A Kid Called Danger of 1999, which is also dreamy. Blink does not attempt to be dreamy. There are undercurrents to this story. They are underlined by way of several simple devices that would sound too fake if mentioned here, they would be spoiler stuff, but that simplicity might make it simpler for considering the issues as a family if some are rather young, which is what the Feature Films For Families seems geared to support. On the surface this has the charisma and dreamy qualities of A Kid Called Danger and could easily appeal to anyone who rates that a lot. All appear to be from the Utah film industry. * Lynn appears well down the alphabetically ordered IMDb cast list, as little Jane, aged around 9, so I had not expected her to have a big role. Except she is the first to appear on screen. The family are farmers. She is helping her dad to move some things into the attic and she finds a box precious to her mum, Ira. Among the stuff is something that dad calls a story which only mum can tell properly, so Jane heads out into the farm's fields and mum tells the story by way of flashbacks. So Lynn is fairly central to the plot, even though she only appears on and off. The lead, Ira at age 11, played by Kate Maberly, is also way down on any alphabetically ordered cast list. A visible feature of the plot is the harsh way that the Mexican migrant farm workers are understood by many of the locals. The farm run by young Ira's parent is very different, but when the migrants' understanding of good ways puts them outside of the rules of the immigration authorities they are not in tune enough to help them move to a solution that would allow them to continue as migrant workers. Meantime, Ira has big identity issues and no good solutions, either. Jane is called after big sister Jane, who Ira considers to have no sense at all, girlie. Except that on some issues Jane even gains respect from the guys at Ira's school. I understand the flashback parts of the story to be during a mid sixties summer. That is Jane's loves in music. 1960ish for the fashion. The mention of Nixon would put this between 1969 and 1974. Etc. The parts with Lynn could be 1990ish. I show that I know not much. The story was filmed in the Salt Lake City area and at the main Idaho valley, Rockies, American Falls, that baby level symbolism. As a male to female, for me the main issue is Ira not being Jane's dad. For me, the main flashbacks are about two boys, Ira and Oscar, during a last summer of freedom. Memories of George of the Famous Five. Tomboy feels a good word for how such was understood back then. * A Kid Called Danger centres on four boys, aged 13ish, who are trying to catch an escaped convict and solve the crime that got the man in jail. Said like that it does not sound dreamy, but I find it so. They notice Lynn – Kristi as she lives in the house they are staking out, but they understand her to be a 13ish boy who plays with teddy bears. They are not impressed. By the end of the story, Danger has given her a miniature bear and she now has Danger as her first ever live teddy. Real love. This feature was also filmed in the Rockies, it starts at the upper Colorado River or an impressive visual substitute, but most is around Utah cities: Salt Lake City and Provo and Orem. * Blink is different, it is the Salt Lake area possibly pretending to be Florida. It is a made for TV film rated PG-ish. It is about a woman, Sunny or Sonia, who was wrongly jailed for 16 years for murdering two policemen. Her childhood friend Micki plays a big part in getting her released. Lynn is mentioned in the IMDb cast list, but at Sept 2007 is one of several whose role is not given. The few above Lynn appear in the front screen credits, where the role is not stated. Those below her are not listed in the screen credits. The only time I recognise her is right at the beginning, scene setting by way of girl versions of the two main characters, then later in flashbacks to this. She is listed in the end credits as Micki at age 11. At the start there is a real potential for a dreamy story, just the main theme soon appears and it is a different sort of dream. * Ira – Kate of Friendship's Field occasionally looks like Cammie Belle. She very occasionally seems like her too. In Blink, Lynn looks a bit like Daveigh Chase. The song in Friendship's Field reminds me of The Dog Who Stopped The War, also dreamy. * I find Friendship's Field and Danger to be more okay than many Disney, Ice Princess and Get A Clue among the exceptions, though I consider the issues to be not as stated in the Friendship's DVD background notes. Updated, April 2008.
