Places in the Heart

Places in the Heart
Theatrical film poster
Directed by	Robert Benton
Written by	Robert Benton
Produced by	Arlene Donovan
Starring	Sally Field Lindsay Crouse Ed Harris Amy Madigan John Malkovich Danny Glover
Cinematography	Néstor Almendros
Edited by	Carol Littleton
Music by	John Kander Howard Shore (music producer)
Color process	Technicolor
Production company	Delphi II Productions
Distributed by	Tri-Star Pictures
Release date	September 21, 1984 (1984-09-21)
Running time	111 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$9.5 million
Box office	$34.9 million[1]

Places in the Heart is a 1984 American drama film written and directed by Robert Benton.^[2][3] Set in 1930s Texas during the Great Depression, the film stars Sally Field as a recently widowed woman who struggles to save her farm with the help of a blind lodger and a Black laborer. The cast also includes John Malkovich, Lindsay Crouse, Ed Harris, Amy Madigan, Danny Glover, and Terry O'Quinn.^{[4][5][6][7][8]}

The film premiered at the 35th Berlin International Film Festival, where Benton won the Silver Bear for Best Director. Released theatrically by Tri-Star Pictures on September 21, 1984, it was both a critical and commercial success, earning $34.9 million on a $9.5 million budget. Places in the Heart received seven Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture, and won two: Best Actress for Field and Best Original Screenplay for Benton.

In 1935, during the Great Depression, the quiet town of Waxahachie, Texas, is shaken when Sheriff Royce Spalding is accidentally shot and killed by a drunk Black teenager, Wylie, who believes his revolver is empty. That same day, a white lynch mob brutally murders Wylie and drags his body through town, leaving it hanging from a tree. Both Royce and Wylie are buried on the same day.

Royce's widow, Edna Spalding, is left to raise their two young children, Frank and Possum, on a struggling cotton farm. Her sister Margaret helps with the funeral, but Edna quickly finds herself facing financial ruin. The local banker, Albert Denby, tells her to sell the farm, but she refuses.

That night, a Black drifter named Moses "Moze" Hadner arrives at Edna's door asking for work. He claims to know how to farm cotton and offers to help her. She feeds him but sends him away. The next morning, she finds him chopping wood in her yard. She feeds him again, but Moze later steals silverware and is caught. When the police bring him back, Edna decides not to press charges and instead hires him officially.

Edna's troubles mount when Denby insists she take in his blind brother-in-law, Will, a bitter World War I veteran, as a boarder. Will resents his new situation but gradually forms a bond with Edna's children, especially after rescuing Possum during a tornado that devastates part of the town.

Meanwhile, Margaret's marriage begins to fall apart as her husband Wayne carries on an affair with Viola Kelsey, a married schoolteacher. After the tornado, Margaret discovers the truth and Wayne confesses the affair, and she tells him she won't forgive him this time.

As cotton prices continue to fall, Edna realizes she can't meet the next mortgage payment. She learns of a $100 prize awarded to the first farmer in Ellis County to bring in a bale of cotton for the season. With Moze's guidance, Edna assembles a small team of pickers and races to harvest and sell the crop. Moze teaches her how to negotiate fairly with the buyer, and their gamble pays off—they win the prize and sell the cotton at a good price, enough to save the farm.

Their success is short-lived. That night, Moze is attacked by the Ku Klux Klan. Will, hearing the assault and recognizing the attackers by voice, intervenes with Royce's old revolver. He stops the beating, and the men flee. Moze knows that his life is in danger and staying will only bring trouble to Edna and her children. Before leaving, he gives her a handkerchief that belonged to his mother.

The film closes with a dreamlike church scene. As a choir sings and 1 Corinthians 13 is read aloud, characters from earlier in the story—living and dead—appear among the pews, taking part in Holy Communion. Margaret takes Wayne's hand in silent reconciliation. Moze, now gone, is shown present in the church. Edna gently passes the communion tray to her late husband, Royce, who then passes it to Wylie, the boy who killed him. They exchange the words, "Peace of God," as the camera lingers on them in solemn silence.

Regarding the unique ending, writer-director Robert Benton explained why he ended an otherwise realistic movie with a fantasy scene incorporating equality, grace and forgiveness, tenets of Christianity:

"There are certain things images can explain that words cannot. There is something in the image of the man who has been killed handing the communion plate to the boy who killed him that seems very moving to me in ways I cannot explain. I had the ending before I ever finished the screenplay, although I knew audiences would be confused by it."^[9]

Places in the Heart was released in theatres on September 21, 1984.^[10] The film was released on DVD on October 9, 2001, by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment.^[11]

Places in the Heart grossed $274,279 in its opening weekend.^[12] The film grossed $34.9 million in the US.^[1]

Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a score of 89% based on reviews from 38 critics and a rating average of 8.00/10. The consensus is: "Places in the Heart is a quiet character piece with grand ambitions that it more than fulfills, thanks to absorbing work from writer-director Robert Benton and a tremendous cast."^[13] Metacritic gives the film a score of 70% based on reviews from 12 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".^[14]

Vincent Canby of The New York Times wrote in his review: "Robert Benton has made one of the best films in years about growing up American." Canby called it "moving and often funny" and "a tonic, a revivifying experience right down to the final images", comparing it to Luis Buñuel's Tristana".^[10] Roger Ebert gave the film three of four stars, writing that Benton's "memories provide the material for a wonderful movie, and he has made it, but unfortunately he hasn't stopped at that. He has gone on to include too much. He tells a central story of great power, and then keeps leaving it to catch us up with minor characters we never care about."^[15]

In 1985, when Sally Field accepted her second Academy Award for Best Actress (the first was for Norma Rae), she uttered the memorable and much-mocked line "I can't deny the fact that you like me—right now, you like me!" It is commonly misquoted as "You like me—you really like me!"

The February 2020 issue of New York magazine lists Places in the Heart as among "The Best Movies That Lost Best Picture at the Oscars."^[16]

The film is recognized by American Film Institute in these lists:

• 2006: AFI's 100 Years...100 Cheers – #95^[30]

• Places in the Heart at IMDb
• Places in the Heart at the TCM Movie Database
• Places in the Heart at the AFI Catalog of Feature Films
• Places in the Heart at Box Office Mojo