SKYLARK

REVIEWED BY CHARITY BISHOP

Our rating: 5 out of 5

Rated:

Two years have passed since the happy marriage of Sarah (Glenn Close) to Jacob Witting (Christopher Walken). She has at last found a home among the rolling prairie grasses and long summer days of Kansas. But for the Witting family, this year is beyond difficult. A terrible drought has affected the land, forcing some people to abandon their property for the security of cooler climates. The danger of fire is high. The supply of water is low. But through it all Sarah persists, determined to be a loving mother, wife, and home keeper for Caleb, Anna, and Jacob.

Compared to the cool, refreshing scent of Maine, Kansas is a barren, dry wasteland where few crops grow. The once-thriving farm struggles to survive, even as motherhood is unfolded all around her. A new calf is in the barn. Her precious gray cat Seal is due to have kittens. Sarah confides in her friend Meg that through her dreams, somehow she believes that if she could only have a baby, everything would be all right. She doesn't want to concern Jacob with her thoughts as he strives to keep them supplied with enough water to survive. He wants her to take Anna and Caleb and visit the aunts in Maine... but Sarah refuses to go. She will not abandon the farmlands as so many others have done.

When tragedy strikes, it may force the family apart to opposite ends of the wide expanse of America; and only the hint of rain may bring them together again. Skylark is a fine film with memorable performances by Glenn Close and Christopher Walken, both of which who have seemed to settle into happier roles than the earlier film. One thing which this production presents well is the happiness of the family despite the bitter harshness of the native land. Even Jacob has his fair share of smiles, unlike the somber, serious former stint of a much more reserved man.

The production is filled with sentimentality that suits the setting well but is not above personal struggle. This time it is a fight within Sarah to love or hate the land, which is, as Jacob tells her, "all that we have left." She has resigned herself to be happy there despite hardship merely because she loves Jacob, Anna, and Caleb. This kind of selfless love that holds over even to her refusal to leave for Maine is remarkable, both in loyalty and love. And even when she's forced to leave, she misses the prairie... and her husband. The film's most memorable setting is the period of time spent in Maine in which we at long last get to meet her brother William and the "unclaimed treasures," her aunts in their "silk dresses and no shoes." By in large, Skylark is a family-friendly production with only a few minor cautions for very young viewers. There's some violent content in the context of two prairie fires; one which endangers the life of a main character. The aunts are known for going skinny-dipping in the cove after dark (never seen).

True, realistic portrayals are suspended once or twice in the long run, and the film doesn't have quite the charisma of Sarah, Plain and Tall, but Skylark is a lovely production that deserves a nod of recognition. I especially loved the romantic portrayal of a married couple, from all the smiles and glances to a few more serious moments always carried over with the sense of a pair who deeply love and respect one another. That, in my book, makes the production a gem.

© www.charitysplace.com - all rights reserved.