Earnest and moving, with help from a very solid cast.

A fairly formulaic 30s Texan drama with all the expected characters. There’s an affair going on between minor characters which seems to be oddly shoehorned into the film but bares little purpose to the main narrative. It is well acted and a good watch. Part of my list of Best Picture nominees. Rather difficult to find these days so I rented it on Amazon Prime.

After wading knee deep in all the hippy progressiveness and culture shock of the 70s with Kramer vs Kramer... Now director Robert Benton takes a hard pivot into Little House on the Prairie territory...With this classic story of a woman fighting to save her farm from greedy bankers...So this is very traditional, old school Americana...Brilliantly evoked by Benton; who gets the tone, the lingo and the sets just right... So this isn't exactly cutting edge stuff; it's a throwback; but it works beautifully nonetheless.

I just watched Places in the Heart for about the 50th time. Love this movie. I remember seeing it in the theater in 1985. The ending knocked me out then as it still does today. I truly enjoyed this movie, but it was the ending that stayed with me - I recall telling my co-worker "I just saw the greatest ending to a movie". I think people make too much out of it - wanting it to connect somehow to the overall story. It is just a few minutes meant to help us remember that we all do things we would like to be forgiven for. As one reviewer wrote - it still packs a wallop today!

I loved this old fashioned movie! I can't believe it took me this long to see it. Highly recommend.

This was an Oscar-winning film for Sally Field, to which I have to say is a really good choice. The movie was simple, yet effective as it described about a widow having to suddenly take care of the whole family after the untimely death of her husband. The obstacles she had to endure based on financial trouble and also having to complete the role as a fatherly figure brings harmony. The interactions that she had with Mr. Will and Moses brought a lot of emotional feedback related to the kindness between people, despite different races or stories. A wonderfully fresh film to watch if you want to see older movies.

Not without some effective moments but Benton could have excised the tedious subplots and lost nothing. In fact he could have used that extra time to flesh out all three of his main characters.

I haven't seen it in years, but I loved back in the 80's. I'm gonna watch it again soon.

Emotionally strong movie, with a great cast.

Places In The Heart – Takes Its Place Among the Better Entries of the 80s This uncommon film offers a thinking man's look at life in the Deep South --from both sides of the color bar-- It's different because it attempts to show the good and bad from several viewpoints. Performances are impressive, especially Sally Field and her immediate main co-stars. An important contribution to its success must be attributed to highly regarded Spanish cinematographer Nestor Almendros (Days Of Heaven '78) who lovingly captures natural sweeping vistas, even when they are being earnt with blood sweat, and tears. But it's Robert (Kramer V/S Kramer '79) Benton's thoughtful script and direction that breaths believable life into these hard working characters – amid recollections of his own youth. Life is hard for these farmers in the backwoods of Waxahachie Texas during the 1935 depression, especially when personal tragedy strikes early in the story. John Kandor (Cabaret '66) creates an original score comprising several standards and traditional pieces, setting the era nicely. This highly Awarded picture (2 Academy's & 5 nominations) probably wouldn't get more than a passing look-in among today's mega budget-comic book Hollywood, but was certainly a breath of fresh air in 1984. Sally Field seems to have had a poor self-image judging from her curious and oft mocked acceptance speech but certainly worked hard and deserved her honors, as she did for her earlier ‘Norma Rae' in ‘79. For those that enjoy slice-of-life dramas about times past, this should still prove interesting. Benton's beguiling choice for ending his story certainly makes for a solid examination of life's more enigmatic outcomes.

A very good movie about a Widow, a black man, and a blind soldier must work together to make a profit in order to survive during the great depression. You want a true underdog story this movie is it.

Great movie! Wonderful!

This is a classic for many reasons. See for yourself.

The performances are absolutely fantastic.

Great acting and characters. Swooping story.

Has a place in the heart blob.

1984 was a year of domestic dramas set in rural areas with Country (1984) and The River (1984) earning Jessica Lange and Sissy Spacek Best Actress nominations along with the eventual winner Sally Field giving the lead performance in Places of the Heart. This is the best of the three films in my opinion because it's anchored by strong performances from Field and John Malkovich, tasteful direction from Robert Benton and the most compelling story to tell. It appears weak when compared to A Passage to India (1984) and Amadeus (1984), two other Best Picture nominees, however it is a great example of the genre it works within and is let down only by a few unnecessary subplots and an occasional lack of dramatic tension. Edna Spalding, Sally Field, is widowed and left to maintain the family farm as the cotton industry struggles to support farmers. In order to keep herself afloat she is forced to appease bank manager Mr. Denby, Lane Smith, by taking in his blind brother-in-law Mr. Will, John Malkovich, while she has also employed black farmhand Moses, Danny Glover, who helps her to farm the cotton. A strange subplot involves Spalding's brother-in-law Wayne Lomax, Ed Harris, who is having an affair with schoolteacher Viola Kelsey, Amy Madigan, which eventually ends when Kelsey leaves for Houston and Lomax returns to his wife. The greatest hope for the family appears to be earning the $100 bonus given to the farmer who can produce the first bale of cotton for the season and when Spalding is able to do this she keeps her farm. I found that what I loved most about the film were the comedic moments between Field and Malkovich who have a wonderful chemistry and play characters who seem a little too wonderful to be real. One of the most entertaining moments in the film comes when an angry Mr. Will walks in on Spalding naked in the bathtub and angrily rebukes her and her children before realizing her state of undress. After this moment we see the two of them grow closer as he protects her children during a terrifying hurricane and talks to her after a hard day at work. I liked seeing a genuine friendship develop between two people who might not seem to jell initially but later find that they have support in one another when they need it. It was the actors, Field and Malkovich, who really brought this relationship to life as they seem to really understand their characters from the inside out and to have a deep and genuine love for them. Malkovich plays blind with subtlety as he is able to give us the sense that this man has not been blind for very long, he was blinded in the war, in addition to making us cheer as he cooks or navigates his way around the farm with clever contraptions. Field has ineffable spirit in the lead role as she really sells her big monologues and instantly endears us to her character. I would have given the Academy Award for Best Actress to Judy Davis in A Passage to India (1984) but I think that Field is still a very good second place. Harris, Madigan and Lindsay Crouse are all decent in their roles but they are caught up in the extraneous section of the film which makes it difficult for me to see merit in their work. What stops me from really admiring the film is the infidelity subplot which was an attempt to tie into the morality tale aspect of the film but ends up feeling like it should be it's own film. The odd blend of semi-erotic scenes between Harris and Madigan and tragic scenes in which we watch the two lovers betray their respective devoted spouses doesn't work. It's not that the actors are not giving it their best, they most certainly are, but the writing and the characters just aren't there for the audience to invest in them. If you want to see something emotionally effecting that displays the impressive talents of Field and Malkovich then this is a film that you can't go wrong with, unless you hate Robert Benton's occasionally too traditional aesthetic.

The best inspiring movie ever made!

Not without some effective moments but Benton could have excised the tedious subplots and lost nothing. In fact he could have used that extra time to flesh out all three of his main characters.

One of the best (not overtly) Christian films ever made. I saw it first run in Munich, Germany, and the last scene in church (viewers, pay attention) left me so emotionally overwrought that I didn't leave the theatre until 45 minutes later.