Rotten Tomatoes
Cancel Movies Tv shows RT App News Showtimes

Country

Play trailer Poster for Country PG 1984 1h 49m Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
100% Tomatometer 10 Reviews 69% Popcornmeter 1,000+ Ratings
Jewell (Jessica Lange) and Gil Ivy (Sam Shepard) run a farm in Iowa that has been in the family for generations. The Ivy's make enough to get by until two devastating events threaten to take their land away. First, a tornado tears through the farming community and devastates the area, then the Farmers Home Administration calls in loans owed by most of the area's farmers, which most are in no position to repay. The stress buckles Gil, leaving Jewell to figure out a way to save their way of life.

Critics Reviews

View More
Catherine Rambeau Detroit Free Press Dec 8
8/10
This beautifully photographed film is occasionally undermined by dramatic overkill and an excess of rhetoric, but a fine cast and a serious story make it worth seeing. Go to Full Review
Roger Ebert Chicago Sun-Times 10/23/2004
3.5/4
It has been so long since I've seen a Hollywood film with specific political beliefs that a funny thing happened: The movie's anger moved me as much as its story. The story is pretty moving, too. Go to Full Review
Matt Brunson Film Frenzy 04/06/2021
3/4
There are no "trickle-down economics" working magic here, only an unfeeling bureaucracy that values profit over people. Go to Full Review
Nicholas Bell IONCINEMA.com 09/07/2018
3/5
While Lange's performance alone elevates something like Country... There's something a bit stagnant about the melodrama of William D. Witliff's screenplay, which takes a compelling predicament but can't rightly fashion the familial characteristics. Go to Full Review
Emanuel Levy EmanuelLevy.Com 06/10/2011
B+
Jessica Lange received a well deserved Oscar nomination for this compelling chronicle of farming in the Reagan era. Go to Full Review
Steve Crum Video-Reviewmaster.com 06/12/2005
4/5
Lange and Shepard are effective as modern farmers under threat. Go to Full Review
Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

View More
09/28/2024 What good is a home without the people? Jessica Lange and Sam Shepard play a couple, Jewell and Gil in love living in the countryside in Iowa They have their dream home and dream life of a farm with their kids But things start changing immensely making things treacherous They face their land being destroyed by a tornado then the Farmers Home Administration starts calling in loans for other farmers Many of them can't afford to pay what's owed Gil is at a crossroads with Jewell finding a way to save their way of life This truly reflects how hard the farm life is, so much so it even garnered the attention of Ronald Reagan and his agri programs Lange even had to show up in court before a congressional panel about living on farms You can definitely sense the bureaucracy of profit over people You feel the frustration of this family facing a terrible ordeal It’s a low budget story that doesn’t skimp on the economics See more Derek C 08/28/2024 I remember watching this with my mother back in the 80s! It was a beautiful movie then and it still is today! I wish it was streaming! See more Jerod S @jeroduptown 06/14/2024 Lange and Shepard are about to lose their farm in the 80s because FHA loans crushing small farmers. It's a family values film that has you rooting for the small folks, even though they don't always handle stress well. See more steve d 07/13/2020 The melodrama is so thick I thought someone was going to end up on the railroad tracks. See more 04/17/2020 This movie will make you cry. It will also give you a sense of true family and neighbors coming together for each other. It's based on a time in the 1980's when farmers were getting their land foreclosed on and it ended up with the country coming together to help with things like the Farm-Aid concert put together by Willie Nelson. Wonderful movie! See more 01/23/2013 A hard hitting emotional drama about a Farming Family in Iowa going through some tough financial times. Filled with natural landscapes & performances this film travels slow but it's emotional & the characters are all interesting to watch. It's amazing how horrible & unreasonable the banks where to the inland US Farmers & this film doesn't hold much back. Jessica Lange was nominated for Best Actress in a Lead Role and I can see why she gave a bravura performance as the Farmer Mum holding everyone together. See more Read all reviews
Country

My Rating

Read More Read Less POST RATING WRITE A REVIEW EDIT REVIEW
Testament 89% 75% Testament Watchlist Places in the Heart 90% 83% Places in the Heart Watchlist Tender Mercies 82% 81% Tender Mercies Watchlist Desert Bloom 71% 71% Desert Bloom Watchlist Resurrection 83% 76% Resurrection Watchlist Discover more movies and TV shows. View More

Movie Info

Synopsis Jewell (Jessica Lange) and Gil Ivy (Sam Shepard) run a farm in Iowa that has been in the family for generations. The Ivy's make enough to get by until two devastating events threaten to take their land away. First, a tornado tears through the farming community and devastates the area, then the Farmers Home Administration calls in loans owed by most of the area's farmers, which most are in no position to repay. The stress buckles Gil, leaving Jewell to figure out a way to save their way of life.
Director
Richard Pearce
Producer
Jessica Lange, William D. Wittliff
Screenwriter
William D. Wittliff
Distributor
Buena Vista Pictures
Rating
PG
Genre
Drama
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Sep 29, 1984, Original
Release Date (DVD)
Dec 9, 2003
Runtime
1h 49m
Sound Mix
Surround
Aspect Ratio
Flat (1.85:1)