'80s Roulette - MURPHY'S ROMANCE
Sally Field and James Garner star in this low-key charmer that earned him an Oscar nomination and established her as a producer.
I have (almost) every single movie released in theaters in the ‘80s in the United States on a hard drive, and once a week, I’m going to hit shuffle and review whatever film comes up first.
Welcome to ‘80s Roulette!
DECEMBER 25, 1985
Murphy’s Romance
Sally Field, James Garner, Brian Kerwin, Corey Haim, Dennis Burkley, Georgann Johnson, Dortha Duckworth, Michael Prokopuk, Billy Ray Sharkey, Michael Crabtree, Anna Thomson, Charles Lane, Bruce French, John C. Becher, Henry Slate, Tom Rankin, Peggy McCay, Carole King, Ted Gehring, Joshua Ravetch, C. Ray Cook, Eugene Cochran, Gene Blakely, Sherry Lynn Amorosi, Patricia Ann Willoughby, Mike Casper, Hugh Burritt, Michael Friel, Art Royer, Marian Gibson, Irving Ravetch, Michael Hungerford, John Higgenbotham, Drasha Meyer, Ron Nix, Johnny Ray Anthony, Paul Pinnt
cinematography by William A. Fraker
music by Carole King and Seyed Ali Moussaka Nour
screenplay by Harriet Frank Jr & Irving Ravetch
based on the novel by Max Schott
produced by Laura Ziskin
directed by Martin Ritt
Rated PG-13
1 hr 47 mins
A divorced mother in her 30s moves to a small town to start over and finds herself in an unlikely relationship with a much-older widower.
When this small-scale charmer was released, much of the critical response at the time was warm. They seemed to be surprised by how gentle it was, especially since this was the follow-up to the collaboration between Martin Ritt and Sally Field on Norma Rae, a fiery look at a real-life labor hero. That role won Field an Oscar and helped give her the clout to try setting up her own production company, Fogwood, which she started with Laura Ziskin.