Episode 11 – Far and Away

In Far and Away, Ron Howard loads up the wagon with Irish accents straight out of a Lucky Charms box. Tom Cruise’s Joseph Donnelly flees a torched Irish tenancy and a half-baked murder plot to chase free land in America, while Shannon Christie (Nicole Kidman) trades aristocratic boredom for adventure, staking her entire future on a tragically doomed set of spoons.

In this episode of Movie Cruise, we discuss Joseph’s dad briefly climbing out of his grave just to declare his son “an odd boy,” and we look at how bare-knuckle boxing was a lot easier when nobody bothered to dodge a punch. We break down the Oklahoma land rush as a full-contact demolition derby, salute the brave idiot on the penny-farthing, and confirm that the best way to get a horse’s respect is apparently to punch it in the mouth.

But most importantly: can someone please just tell Tom Cruise that they like his hat?

Next port of call: A Few Good Men.