There's a lot of potential for a good film in the script of this slice of life drama surrounding a family in the Las Vegas area during the height of the Korean war and the situations involving mom JoBeth Williams second husband, John Voight, who was something from post traumatic stress disorder from the second world war. He's basically a decent guy, but to deal with his pain he drinks too much and that leads to troubles that are not easy to resolve and that creates conflict with the oldest of his stepdaughters, Annabeth Gish.
Performances are good and the characters are for the most part very interesting, particularly the aunt played by a young Ellen Barkin. The character played by Voight certainly could have been a lot rougher, and he isn't abusive to the point of being hateful although a slapping scene from him towards Gish is a bit hard to watch.
A good use of music and references to trends involving nuclear bomb raid practices really gives good detail to the era. But the problem I felt was that the film jumped in without real detail and it wasn't until 15 minutes into the movie where everything began to come together. Perhaps if that point had started the film, it might have had a better narrative as a whole rather than feeling badly structured. An interesting period drama nonetheless with more good aspects than bad.
Performances are good and the characters are for the most part very interesting, particularly the aunt played by a young Ellen Barkin. The character played by Voight certainly could have been a lot rougher, and he isn't abusive to the point of being hateful although a slapping scene from him towards Gish is a bit hard to watch.
A good use of music and references to trends involving nuclear bomb raid practices really gives good detail to the era. But the problem I felt was that the film jumped in without real detail and it wasn't until 15 minutes into the movie where everything began to come together. Perhaps if that point had started the film, it might have had a better narrative as a whole rather than feeling badly structured. An interesting period drama nonetheless with more good aspects than bad.