153 – A Thousand Acres

It’s time for yet another long-promised episode in This Had Oscar Buzz lore, and also from a Pulitzer Prize winner! Adapted from Jane Smiley’s novel (which itself was loosely based on Shakespeare’s King Lear), A Thousand Acres cast two-time Oscar winner Jason Robards as one town’s beloved titan farmer and a trio of dynamo actresses as his daughters: Jessica Lange, Michelle Pfeiffer, and Jennifer Jason Leigh. The daughters inherit the farm as their father’s dementia starts to take hold, leading to a struggle for control of the farm in the shadow of revelations about the sexual abuse they endured at his hand. Though the film netted a Best Actress nomination for Lange at the Globes, the film’s harsh critical drubbing pushed it out of Oscar’s view. This episode, we get into the film’s shortcomings while discussing how it might have been more kindly received today. Also, Pfeiffer is the latest performer to join our 6 Timer’s Club while we discuss Lange’s career resurgence thanks to Ryan Murphy and Leigh’s long road to her first Oscar nomination after several attempts in the 1990s. Topics also include the films of director Jocelyn Moorhouse, Ving Rhames passing his Golden Globe off to Jack Lemmon, and our Best Actress pick for 1997. Follow Us on Twitter! @Had_Oscar_Buzz Joe: @joereid Chris: @chrisvfeil