The defence The Sentimental Softie
“Sincerity is not manipulation.”
The film risks embarrassment to make emotion communal, and that openness is harder than fashionable detachment.
Back to trending 
Far and Away
Adventure · Drama · Romance · 1992
A young free-spirited Irish woman from an affluent Protestant family spontaneously befriends a street-smart commoner cheated by her family’s hostile land takeovers. They escape to America, ready to take advantage of the 19th century Oklahoma land rush.
Movie details
Far and Away
“What they needed was a country big enough for their dreams.”
1992 Adventure · Drama · Romance 2h 20m
Critical arithmetic
One number, for now.
Scores change. Arguments endure.
TMDB
6.8 / 10
Community rating
A young free-spirited Irish woman from an affluent Protestant family spontaneously befriends a street-smart commoner cheated by her family’s hostile land takeovers. They escape to America, ready to take advantage of the 19th century Oklahoma land rush.
CriticWise case file
What this film says about your taste.
Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.
The archetype split
Who fights over Far and Away?
For the defence
The Sentimental Softie
“You came to feel something, and you will.”
Read their case For the prosecution
The Cool Ironist
“Feeling things is a little embarrassing.”
Read their objectionThe split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.
Taste neighbourhood
Nearby on the taste map.
TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.
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Tess
Drama · 1979
A strong-willed peasant girl is sent by her father to the estate of some local aristocrats to capitalize on a rumour that their families are from the same line. This fateful visit commences an epic narrative of sex, class, betrayal, and revenge.
The Boxer
Drama · 1997
Nineteen-year-old Danny Flynn is imprisoned for his involvement with the I.R.A. in Belfast. He leaves behind his family and his sixteen-year-old girlfriend, Maggie Hamill. Fourteen years later, Danny is released from prison and returns to his old working class neighborhood to resume his life as a boxer.
Under Capricorn
Drama · 1949
A British ex-convict in colonial Australia and his fragile wife, haunted by the past crime that binds them, struggle to rebuild their lives when a young newcomer stirs long-buried passions and secrets.
News of the World
Drama · 2020
A Texan traveling across the wild West bringing the news of the world to local townspeople, agrees to help rescue a young girl who was kidnapped.
Australia
Adventure · 2008
Set in northern Australia before World War II, an English aristocrat who inherits a sprawling ranch reluctantly pacts with a stock-man in order to protect her new property from a takeover plot. As the pair drive 2,000 head of cattle over unforgiving landscape, they experience the bombing of Darwin by Japanese forces firsthand.
The New World
Drama · 2005
A drama about explorer John Smith and the clash between Native Americans and English settlers in the 17th century.
Comes a Horseman
Western · 1978
Ella Connors is a single woman who gets pressured to sell her failing cattle farm to her corrupt ex-suitor, Jacob Ewing. She asks for help from her neighbor, Frank Athearn. As Ella and Frank fight back through stampedes, jealousy, betrayal, and sabotage... they eventually find love.
Legends of the Fall
Drama · 1994
In early 20th-century Montana, Col. William Ludlow lives on a ranch in the wilderness with his sons, Alfred, Tristan, and Samuel. Eventually, the unconventional but close-knit family are bound by loyalty, tested by war, and torn apart by love, as told over the course of several decades in this epic saga.
Cinderella Man
Romance · 2005
The true story of boxer Jim Braddock who, following his retirement in the 1930s, makes a surprise comeback in order to lift his family out of poverty.
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Names above the title
The people responsible.
Cast & crew
Directed by
Ron Howard
Written by
Bob Dolman · Ron Howard
Tom Cruise
Joseph Donnelly
Nicole Kidman
Shannon Christie
Thomas Gibson
Stephen Chase
Robert Prosky
Daniel Christie
Barbara Babcock
Nora Christie
Cyril Cusack
Danty Duff
Eileen Pollock
Mary Kay
Court is in session
Put Far and Away on trial.
Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.
The prosecution The Cool Ironist
“The strings are showing.”
Every cue tells you exactly what to feel and when, leaving sentiment to do the work character should have done.