Far and Away

Directed by Ron Howard, Far and Away follows Tom Cruise’s Joseph Donnelly and Nicole Kidman’s Shannon Christie as they emigrate from Ireland to the United States in search of new, more independent lives. Filmmaker Howard, armed with Bob Dolman’s screenplay, delivers a sweeping epic that admittedly gets off to a less-than-engrossing start, as the picture kicks off with a sluggish opening stretch that’s compounded by the narrative’s almost excessively familiarity – with, at least, the lackluster vibe initially allayed by the predictably magnetic efforts of stars Cruise and Kidman. It’s clear, then, that Far and Away improves considerably once the action shifts to Boston,  as it does become awfully difficult to resist the characters’ appealing efforts at starting over and, perhaps inevitably, their eventual romantic tension – with Mikael Salomon’s lush visuals and John Williams’ larger-than-life score enhancing the compulsively watchable atmosphere. And while the 140 minute runtime does feel excessive, particularly within an action-packed third act that wears out its welcome, Far and Away predominantly comes off as an agreeably old-fashioned drama that boasts, at its core, first-class performances from actors at the top of their game.

*** out of ****