Murphy's Romance (1985)

After 30 years of only hearing about this one, I finally watched Murphy's Romance on Netflix disc with my mom just now. It's a nice drama with some humorous touches throughout. Sally Field plays a divorced mother with a young boy (Corey Haim) who's befriended by James Garner as a druggist who occasionally spends time with them. Ms. Field also has an ex-husband who comes by and tries to rekindle his romance with her. I'll stop there and just say both me and Mom enjoyed the light touches of many scenes. It took a while for something to be going on but it was never boring. Oh, and if you're a big fan of It's a Wonderful Life like I am, you'll probably get a kick of one of its players-Charles Lane-appearing here as an old man who takes a ride in James Garner's car and thinks he's going too fast even though he's only driving at 30 miles! He's also in a later dance sequence with a woman near his age. So on that note, I highly recommend Murphy's Romance.

I thought this film would merit a higher rating than it does here on the IMDb. It's a warm and touching, funny movie at times with Sally Field and James Garner portraying their characters with just the right amount of credibility. Not to sugarcoat this too much, I'm a guy, but I think the film hit the right notes for the kind of picture it was. There were only a couple scenes that I thought were forced, one was Murphy (Garner) and Bobby Jack (Brian Kerwin) deciding to dance together when they probably should have been coming to blows over each other's jealousy. The other was Emma's (Field) sneezing fit in the barn when Bobby tried to push his luck. It appeared that Miss Field never took sneeze lessons in acting school because it looked to me like she was about to crack up. If it was her way of putting off her ex, then I'll give her a pass. By the way, wasn't Bobby Jack just a perfect creep? Even the kid knew he cheated at cards.Now once I offer you this tip, I'm sure you'll take me up on the challenge. Just keep attentive during any modern flick and you're bound to see a product placement scene featuring Coca Cola. Usually it's a quick shot, but boy, the Coke folks got their money's worth here. There were at least six different Coke instances, more if you count a second glance within the same situation. This started out as a game between my wife and I after I first noticed how often the popular brand wound up in a movie, so it's second nature now. Just can't help myself.You know, Garner had a line that made me do some research. When he's invited to the movies, he mentions that he hadn't been to one since the Duke died. So I checked, and sure enough, John Wayne passed away six years prior to this film's release. Something else though, did you know Wayne's father was a pharmacist? Can you imagine that.

Murphy's Romance is a little gem of a movie. I like the way it defies typical Hollywood formulas. For example, When Emma's ex-husband, Bobby, shows up trying to reclaim Emma's affection, the usual Hollywood storyline would involve Emma using the situation to create jealousy, and for Murphy and Bobby to have fought (probably physically) for Emma's affection. Instead, the three of them live together (with Emma and Bobby's son) semi-harmoniously with Murphy competing in a more subtle way to show that he rather than Bobby is the right match for her now. A scene which stands out has Murphy and Bobby both attempting to cut in to dance with Emma at a party, and when Emma says in frustration, "why don't you just dance with each other," they in fact do, with Murphy saying, "watch your feet - I'll lead." Much of the movie's message lies in what the actors do rather than what they say. Only at the end, after a lengthy romance, does Murphy profess his love and give Emma a mild ultimatum to choose him as a lover, not a friend.The dialogue is terse and funny, the acting is superb, and the story at the end is very satisfying. This is a movie for discriminating adults tired of chase scenes, predictable dialogue, and tired formulas.

A low-key romantic comedy that pairs Sally Field with James Garner, and proves that the two actors have a great deal of chemistry together.Sally Field is a newly-divorced mom setting up house with her son. Garner is a good 'ol boy who takes a hankering to her and promises to be a positive male influence. The doofus stud of an ex-husband makes a nuisance of himself. Guess who Field winds up with? The film rides along harmlessly enough on the personalities of its two leads.Won Oscar nominations for Garner and its cinematography.Grade: B+