The Field Movie Review

Richard Harris's standout performance elevates this simple fable -- and a film I've resisted seeing for over a decade -- into a near classic. The battle is a well-known one: Harris is Bull McCabe, a simple rancher who rents a small plot of land to graze his cattle. But the owner decides to sell it, and a rich American (Tom Berenger) swoops in, intent on paving the thing. At first we side with Bull, but when things turn violent (that, we're told, is "the law of the land"), we wonder if we haven't been too hasty with our judgement. Quite touching though -- owing to its theatrical origins -- it's missing a sense of grandeur.