This was the first film that Jane Fonda had appeared in since receiving her Oscar nomination for supporting actress co-starring opposite her father Henry and Katharine Hepburn in the 1981 smash hit "On Golden Pond". In the 1930's, Hepburn appeared in several films similar to this, although playing younger women. "Spitfire" and "The Little Minister" may not be considered classics, but they are very similar to the role that Fonda plays here, wife to Levon Holm (Sissy Spacek's father in "Coal Miners Daughter") and the mother of a brood of children that keeps her going morning, noon and night.
In the opening scene, she's spotted rushing with a child who is choking, basically forcing her way into a car full of soldiers to get her child to the hospital. There is no rest for this woman, and for her husband, drafted into service during World War II, this makes her the head of the household, let the struggle and make ends meet with what little she has. He doesn't end up in active service so she must follow him to Detroit and it's through the strength of her ability to keep the family together that everybody is able to come through it even though there are tragedies along the way.
This is a Jane Fonda that you have rately never seen before, wearing no makeup and yet still strong and vulnerable and loving and tough, yet fragile when the times become too hard for her to handle. But she is a rock, strong when most people would be weak and able to take even the toughest blows without blinking. Had Fonda done less glamorous parts during her time as a glamour girl along the lines of this and "They Shoot Horses Don't They", she might have had a different impact as an actress.
She is surrounded by a terrific featured cast of the familiar faces, most notably Geraldine Page as her long-suffering mother, Amanda Plummer as her neighbor in Detroit and rising Broadway diva Christine Ebersole as a friendly school teacher. Dan Heydara is hardly recognizable as another one of the teachers, offering friendly advice to Fonda in a memorable scene while she is shopping for food. Slice of life isn't always happy, and this has its moments of sadness as well as triumph. A very good script and tight direction makes this a majorly above average TV movie that could have equally done as well on the big screen in a year filled with similarly strong women played by the best of Hollywood's leading ladies of the 1980's, Oscar winner Sally Field and nominees Jessica Lange and Sissy Spacek in memorable parts. A true triumph for Fonda in a part she can be really proud of.
In the opening scene, she's spotted rushing with a child who is choking, basically forcing her way into a car full of soldiers to get her child to the hospital. There is no rest for this woman, and for her husband, drafted into service during World War II, this makes her the head of the household, let the struggle and make ends meet with what little she has. He doesn't end up in active service so she must follow him to Detroit and it's through the strength of her ability to keep the family together that everybody is able to come through it even though there are tragedies along the way.
This is a Jane Fonda that you have rately never seen before, wearing no makeup and yet still strong and vulnerable and loving and tough, yet fragile when the times become too hard for her to handle. But she is a rock, strong when most people would be weak and able to take even the toughest blows without blinking. Had Fonda done less glamorous parts during her time as a glamour girl along the lines of this and "They Shoot Horses Don't They", she might have had a different impact as an actress.
She is surrounded by a terrific featured cast of the familiar faces, most notably Geraldine Page as her long-suffering mother, Amanda Plummer as her neighbor in Detroit and rising Broadway diva Christine Ebersole as a friendly school teacher. Dan Heydara is hardly recognizable as another one of the teachers, offering friendly advice to Fonda in a memorable scene while she is shopping for food. Slice of life isn't always happy, and this has its moments of sadness as well as triumph. A very good script and tight direction makes this a majorly above average TV movie that could have equally done as well on the big screen in a year filled with similarly strong women played by the best of Hollywood's leading ladies of the 1980's, Oscar winner Sally Field and nominees Jessica Lange and Sissy Spacek in memorable parts. A true triumph for Fonda in a part she can be really proud of.