Love Field is a 1992 American independent drama film written by Don Roos and directed byJonathan Kaplan, starring

Michelle Pfeiffer and Dennis Haysbert. It was released on December 11, 1992 in the United States by Orion Pictures.[1] This film is an example of a representation of the Assassination of John F. Kennedy in popular culture. The film was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role (Michelle Pfeiffer).
Contents
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1 Plot 2 Depictions of Racism in Love Field 3 Cast 4 Production 5 Reception

o o o

5.1 Release 5.2 Critical response 5.3 Awards and nominations

6 References 7 External links

[edit]Plot

In November 1963, Dallas housewife Lurene Hallett (Michelle Pfeiffer) is obsessed with First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy. Lurene feels a special connection with Jackie through her own loss of a child. Knowing that President John F. Kennedy and his wife will be visiting Dallas, Lurene travels to Love Field Airport to try to catch a glimpse of the couple as they arrive by plane on November 22, 1963. Driving away a few hours later, she notices a quiet chaos developing, and discovers that the President has been assassinated. Lurene leaves her car in the middle of the street and rushes to watch the news through a store window. Lurene's anguish over the death of John F. Kennedy reflects the collective grief of the nation over this tragedy. Ignoring her overbearing husband Ray (Brian Kerwin), she travels by bus to attend the funeral inWashington, D.C. Much to the chagrin of the black patrons on the bus, Lurene talks constantly of the assassination during the bus ride. During her journey, she befriends Jonell

(Stephanie McFadden), the young black daughter of Paul Cater (Dennis Haysbert). After the bus has an accident, Lurene notice wounds on Jonell's body. Lurene senses something is wrong, suspects Paul and calls the FBI to report that there has been a kidnapping. Moments after her well-intentioned interference, Paul explains that Jonell's wounds are from an orphanage that he rescued her from and he is indeed her real father. Nevertheless, Lurene's FBI call leads the three of them on an increasingly difficult road trip across America with both the police and Ray in pursuit. [2] Over the course of the film, Lurene and Paul develop an unlikely friendship and romance and even share a kiss. Ultimately, despite their attempts to flee, the police catch Paul and Lurene and Paul is sentenced to a year in jail. After his arrest, the movie flashes forward to show Lurene visiting Jonell in a group home where she has been staying. It is evident that Lurene has been visiting Jonell regularly. In one scene, Lurene explains to Jonell that her father is coming back to take her home later that day. As Lurene leaves the group home, Paul arrives to pick up Jonell. The two stop to talk and Lurene informs Paul that she and Ray are divorced. Paul and Lurene hug and Lurene drives away. In the concluding scene of the film, Lurene turns her car around and rushes back into the group home to join Paul and Jonell.
[edit]Depictions

of Racism in Love Field

Racism is prevalent throughout the film, as well as displays of discontent from the black community concerning Kennedys efforts to improve race relations. Despite the efforts of the filmmakers to include the black perspective during this era, one critic complains that the black characters function merely as analogies of oppression. [3] Criticism aside, the film is unflinchingly realistic in its portrayals of violence against Paul, by white men and Lurene, by her husband, Ray. Historically, the film relates to findings of the Kerner Comission from 1968. This commission found that Our nation is moving toward two societies, one black, one white, separate and unequal. Love Field relates to the commission in the depiction of differing opinions about Kennedy in the white and black communities, represented respectively by Lurene and Paul. The makers of Love Field try to portray the boundaries between these two distinct societies during this era through Lurenes nave point of view. One example of this is an interaction between Lurene and Paul in which she states, I dont know when we started killing people to solve things, and he responds, I didnt know we

stopped. [4] The inclusion of such moments of racial tension serves to make Love Field a film about more than just the Kennedy assassination.
[edit]Cast

Michelle Pfeiffer as Lurene Hallett Dennis Haysbert as Paul Cater Stephanie McFadden as Jonell Brian Kerwin as Ray Hallett Louise Latham as Mrs. Enright Peggy Rea as Mrs. Heisenbuttal Beth Grant as Hazel Cooper Huckabee as Deputy Swinson Troy Evans as Lt. Galvan Mark Miller as Trooper Exley Pearl Jones as Mrs. Baker Rhoda Griffis as Jacqueline Kennedy Bob Gill as John F. Kennedy Nick Searcy as FBI man [edit]Production

Love Field was partially filmed on location in Wilson, North Carolina, USA.[5] Denzel Washington was attached to the role of Paul Cater, but was replaced by Dennis Haysbert just before filming commenced.[6] The character of Lurene Hallett was based upon screenwriter Don Roos's own mother.[6]
[edit]Reception

Although Love Field was made in 1990, Orion Pictures suffered crippling financial losses and filed for bankruptcy. The film was not released until December 1992, in time for Oscar consideration.[6]
[edit]Release

Love Field was released on December 11, 1992, and grossed $1,949,148 in the USA.[7] It currently holds a rating of 50% on Rotten Tomatoes, indicating mixed reviews.[8]

[edit]Critical

response

Janet Maslin in the New York Times wrote: "This modest film actually covers a lot of ground... Love Field brings remarkably few preconceptions to the telling of its understated story. The characters transcend stereotypes, but what really matters is the actors' ability to breathe these people to life."[9] Time Out was similarly positive, writing: "This affecting romantic comedy probes the gradations of racial prejudice still prevalent in the South despite JFK's best efforts... unaccountably denied a theatrical release in Britain, this is a most impressive and enjoyable work."[10] On the negative side, Variety described it as "a sincere, not fully realized 1960s drama that is yet another variation on the 'Where were you when you heard JFK was shot?' theme."[11] Hal Hinson in the Washington Post thought that "the interracial love affair that develops between this oddly matched pair never makes much sense."[12] Roger Ebert in the Chicago Sun-Times wrote that "the essential truth of the characters was being undercut by all the manufactured gimmicks of the plot."[13] Critical consensus held that the primary reason to see the film was the Oscarnominated performance of Michelle Pfeiffer. The New York Times wrote that a "character this flamboyant would risk sinking any film. But Ms. Pfeiffer, again demonstrating that she is as subtle and surprising as she is beautiful, plays Lurene with remarkable grace."[9] The Washington Post called the characterization "a marvel, but by now that is only to be expected. Watching her [Pfeiffer] discover new facets of her talent is one of the real pleasures of going to the movies these days. Done up with a '60s platinum bouffant and butterfly fake eyelashes, Pfeiffer plays Lurene as a big-hearted, motor-mouth ditz. But, even in the movie's earliest scenes, Pfeiffer suggests that Lurene has hidden depth; not unrevealed smarts, really, but innate decency and guilelessness... She's fully alive up there on the screen: a grounded angel, tarnished, funny and exquisitely soulful, even when the movie is dead."[12] Desson Howe wrote: "there is strong reason to watch Love Field simply for Pfeiffer. As the nobly oppressed father (a sort of clichd, Sidney Poitier role), Haysbert is respectable and doe-eyed McFadden makes a fetching innocent. But Pfeiffer is the movie's sole engine. Tucking away her gratuitous beauty behind pancake makeup and that blonde hay-er, she's in effortless, sassy command."[14] Peter Travers in Rolling Stone was of the opinion that "Pfeiffer overcomes the poky direction of Jonathan Kaplan (The Accused) and the unfocused script by Don Roos (of Single White

Female infamy). She weaves magic in a portrayal of striking grace notes... long after Love Field hits a dead end, Pfeiffer cuts a path to the heart."[15] Time Out called it a "marvellously touching, funny and credible performance,"[10] while forVariety it was "yet another memorable characterization."[11] Roger Ebert congratulated her for a performance "which takes a woman who could have become a comic target and invests her with a certain dignity."[13] Stephen Farber in Movieline wrote: "As Lurene Hallett, a dreamy beautician obsessed with Jackie Kennedy, Pfeiffer confirms her growing range and power. Her skill with accents is beginning to rival Meryl Streep's, but even more impressive than her technical virtuosity is her emotional depth; she highlights the childlike romanticism and generosity of this simple woman."[16]
[edit]Awards

and nominations

For her performance, Michelle Pfeiffer won the Silver Bear for Best Actress at the 43rd Berlin International Film Festival,[17] and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress and the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress - Motion Picture Drama, both of which went to Emma Thompson for Howards End.[18] Jonathan Kaplan was nominated for the Golden Bear.[18]
Awarding Body Award Nominee Result

Academy Awards

Best Actress

Michelle Pfeiffer nomination

Golden Bear 43rd Berlin International Film Festival Silver Bear for Best Actress

Jonathan Kaplan nomination

Michelle Pfeiffer winner

Golden Globe Awards

Best Actress - Motion Picture Drama Michelle Pfeiffer nomination

[edit]

"Love Field," a gentle, involving film about interracial friendship, begins with a very broad stroke in the form of Lurene Hallett (Michelle Pfeiffer), a blond bombshell who feels a special psychic bond with Jacqueline Kennedy. The year is 1963, the President has just been assassinated and Lurene feels duty bound to take the bus from Dallas to Washington to attend the funeral. "What I want is to go to that

rotunda and file past that caisson or cortege or whatever it is and pay my respects," Lurene says, savoring the important-sounding words that make her think she has a mission. For Lurene, feeling closely involved in this national tragedy amounts to a kind of character trait. Defining herself visibly in terms of Mrs. Kennedy's appeal, she boards the bus wearing a homemade lavender suit in the Kennedy style and sporting a bouffant hairdo that happens to be platinum blond. "Love Field," which opens today at the New York Twin, takes its title from the Dallas airport where Lurene turns up, early in the story, to catch a glimpse of the Presidential plane. A character this flamboyant would risk sinking any film. But Ms. Pfeiffer, again demonstrating that she is as subtle and surprising as she is beautiful, plays Lurene with remarkable grace. Her only problem, if you could call it that, is looking like a cross between the young Mrs. Kennedy and the Marilyn Monroe of "The Misfits." It isn't easy to believe that a pastel vision like Ms. Pfeiffer's Lurene could pass through so many sleepy Southern towns without causing more of a stir. Lurene does get a rise out of Paul Cater (Dennis Haysbert), a fellow passenger on the bus, but she commands his attention for the wrong reasons. A quiet, serious black man traveling with a little girl (Stephanie McFadden), whom he introduces as Jonell, his daughter, Paul has little patience for the chattery Lurene, who insists on befriending him. Lurene's sweetness is real, but her self-image includes a bit too much of Lady Bountiful. When she insists on telling Paul that President Kennedy "did a lot for the Negro," Paul particularly bristles. "Hey, you want this?" he asks dryly, offering Lurene a magazine. "I'm finished with it. It's got lots of pictures." As the film progresses, Lurene persists in finding ways of attaching herself to Paul and Jonell. Jonathan Kaplan ("The Accused"), a director capable of uncommonly delicate treatment of difficult issues, carefully conveys the context in which this friendship is formed. This modest film actually covers a lot of ground, touching on the racial and sexual attitudes of its time while also filling in the particulars of its characters' earlier lives. Lurene's unhappy marriage clearly has a lot to do with her eagerness to reinvent herself in such dramatic ways. Paul's constant watchfulness around white Southerners and his occasional angry outbursts at Lurene's unwitting gaucheness on the subject of race are also carefully drawn. So are the limits placed on friendship between a black man and a white woman in rural Southern society. When Paul comforts Lurene by touching her arm, a white woman looks on disapprovingly. When Lurene is ostentatiously nice to Paul at a bus station, a black woman registers similar dismay. And when these two finally give in to temptation, there is a long pause before anything happens. The camera watches both Paul and Lurene think things over before they kiss. As written by Don Roos (who also wrote "Single White Female"), "Love Field" brings remarkably few preconceptions to the telling of its understated story. The characters transcend stereotypes, but what really matters is the actors' ability to breathe these people to life. Mr. Haysbert is warm, sturdy and

impressive in conveying Paul's mixture of exasperation and attraction to Lurene. Ms. Pfeiffer has a much showier role. Once again, she manages to be quietly spectacular, revealing the ways Lurene's inner desperation contributes to her outward gaiety. "I just kind of ran it together: don't know why!" she exclaims nervously, trying to explain how she got that name out of her original Louise Irene. "Love Field" is finally a shade too polite. It moves cautiously in developing its central relationship, perhaps as a reflection of the restrictive world in which the characters live. But that world is outstandingly well evoked through the series of quiet, desolate Southern settings through which Paul and Lurene pass. At a remote farmhouse, an elderly white woman (Louise Latham) harbors these two once they become fugitives, and displays a grudging awareness that the world is changing. And in another small town, when Lurene tries to tell a black mechanic of President Kennedy's good deeds regarding racial equality, the man says: "Take a look around, ma'am. Look like he done much here?" "Love Field" is rated PG-13 (Parents strongly cautioned). It includes brief violence, mild sexual suggestiveness and slight profanity. Love Field Directed by Jonathan Kaplan; written by Don Roos; director of photography, Ralf Bode; edited by Jane Kurson; music by Jerry Goldsmith; production designer, Mark Freeborn; produced by Sarah Pillsbury and Midge Sanford; released by Orion Pictures. Running time: 104 minutes. At the New York Twin, Second Avenue at 66th Street, Manhattan. This film is rated PG-13. Lurene Hallett . . . Michelle Pfeiffer Paul Cater . . . Dennis Haysbert Jonell . . . Stephanie McFadden Ray Hallett . . . Brian Kerwin Mrs. Enright . . . Louise Latham Mrs. Heisenbuttal . . . Peggy Rea Hazel . . . Beth Grant