Yes, Sally Field had been around for nearly two decades when this was released, but she had only begun to receive critical acclaim within the past couple years, starting with "Sybil" on TV and continuing with "Norma Rae" for which she had won her first Oscar just the year before. Fortunately, she had "Absence of Malice" the same year as this, but this is absent of anything resembling charm. For one thing, she is completely unbelievable as a prostitute, like Barbra Streisand and Liza Minnelli, playing this part seemingly with shock value in mind and coming out of it unconvincingly. She was reteamed here with director Martin ratchet who had led her to her first Oscar, but this wasn't wise choice of a script for her to take.
Her leading man, Tommy Lee Jones, had scored a success the year before by playing Loretta Lynn's husband in "Coal Miner's Daughter" opposite the oscar-winning Sissy Spacek. He's handsome but not charming as a drifter who scores with her but can't pay, and somehow, she can't seem to get rid of him, especially after he slugs a Vice Cop who is about to nab her. They end up crossing the country together, encountering a group of sailors (including a young David Keith), roll a drunk, and she tries to turn tricks in a town run by a taxi driving madam who threatens her. They nearly getaway with a free meal, but waitress Nell Carter gets amusing revenge on them.
So there are a few amusing moments among a lot of tacky ones, but ultimately, it's rather uncomfortable watching these two together. We're supposed to feel sympathy for her because she has a son that was taken away from her for some reason (a plot device that is more cloying than helpful to the story), and he's nothing more than a good old boy with the nose for a money-making scheme yet still rather unlikable. So these are two misfits traveling together, and you get to see the worst of what goes on between the east coast and the West Coast. It's not completely unwatchable. It's just not a film that I could recommend, especially as a career highlight for the two stars who could have done better.
Her leading man, Tommy Lee Jones, had scored a success the year before by playing Loretta Lynn's husband in "Coal Miner's Daughter" opposite the oscar-winning Sissy Spacek. He's handsome but not charming as a drifter who scores with her but can't pay, and somehow, she can't seem to get rid of him, especially after he slugs a Vice Cop who is about to nab her. They end up crossing the country together, encountering a group of sailors (including a young David Keith), roll a drunk, and she tries to turn tricks in a town run by a taxi driving madam who threatens her. They nearly getaway with a free meal, but waitress Nell Carter gets amusing revenge on them.
So there are a few amusing moments among a lot of tacky ones, but ultimately, it's rather uncomfortable watching these two together. We're supposed to feel sympathy for her because she has a son that was taken away from her for some reason (a plot device that is more cloying than helpful to the story), and he's nothing more than a good old boy with the nose for a money-making scheme yet still rather unlikable. So these are two misfits traveling together, and you get to see the worst of what goes on between the east coast and the West Coast. It's not completely unwatchable. It's just not a film that I could recommend, especially as a career highlight for the two stars who could have done better.