Geraldine Page won the Best Actress Oscar in 1986 for her performance in this film as Mrs. Watts, a doddering old lady who seeks to return to her old homestead in Bountiful, Texas amidst the grumblings of her son Ludie (John Heard) and termagant daughter-in-law Jessie Mae (Carlin Glynn). One afternoon, she runs out of their apartment in Houston and gets on a bus where she meets a sympathetic young woman, Thelma, ( Rebecca De Mornay), who provides some solace and support along the way. The film throughout showers the viewer with lots of maudlin pontifications emanating from Page's stagey characterization, one that seemed like a rehash of Faulkner and Tennessee Williams roles she may have been involved in over the years. This film gets a lot of praise, but I found it a sentimental mish mash about aging amidst rose colored memories of the past. Page's performance impressed me as very repetitive and ultimately a bit tiresome, creating a character to whom I found myself engendering little compassion. On the other hand, Heard and De Mornay, I thought, put in quite creditable performances that in many respects outshone Page.
Review of The Trip to Bountiful
