A Short Synopsis: Jacob and Sarah Whitting (Christopher Walken and Glenn Close) and their children are struggling through a drought on their farm in Kansas in 1912. Their friends are all giving up on the land and packing up their families. The Whittings struggle to save the home they love, though Sarah doesn't believe she truly loves it. Throughout this hard time, Sarah selfishly wishes to have a child. A series of fires destroy crops and property, and as their water supply runs down, Jacob sends Sarah and the children, Caleb and Anna, to visit Sarah's relatives in Maine. After the long train ride, Sarah is reunited with old friends and relatives. Aunt Lou recognizes that Sarah is expecting, though she hasn't told anyone, and the children enjoy their first view of the sea that Sarah had so vividly described. Time passes, and both Jacob and Sarah suffer in their separation, longing for each other. Finally, the drought ends and Jacob comes to Maine. Sarah finally tells Jacob that they will soon be parents, and upon returning to Kansas, Sarah realizes her love of the land.
A Short Commentary: The first shot is of the dog, and the dog is really the only character who has not been drastically and horribly changed between the first and second movies. The writing was clichéd and the plot especially was childishly conceived and lacked complexity and sophistication. Both Christopher Walken and Glenn Close were one-dimensional, which is to be expected from Christopher and was very effective for his character in the first movie, but Glenn was equally unrealistic and unemotional. Considering that she was able to play a convincingly real Cruella DeVil, this must be chalked up to truly bad direction. Cinematographically, the film was quite poorly made: Scenes were repeatedly begun with a badly focused tracking shot, and the camera angles were less imaginative and more juvenile than the worst amateur filmmakers. The lighting, especially in the fire scenes, was atrocious.
In short, it is quite bad.
A Short Commentary: The first shot is of the dog, and the dog is really the only character who has not been drastically and horribly changed between the first and second movies. The writing was clichéd and the plot especially was childishly conceived and lacked complexity and sophistication. Both Christopher Walken and Glenn Close were one-dimensional, which is to be expected from Christopher and was very effective for his character in the first movie, but Glenn was equally unrealistic and unemotional. Considering that she was able to play a convincingly real Cruella DeVil, this must be chalked up to truly bad direction. Cinematographically, the film was quite poorly made: Scenes were repeatedly begun with a badly focused tracking shot, and the camera angles were less imaginative and more juvenile than the worst amateur filmmakers. The lighting, especially in the fire scenes, was atrocious.
In short, it is quite bad.