BLUE SKY
A film review by Ben Hoffman
Copyright 1994 Ben Hoffman
The plus side of BLUE SKY is that both principals have roles in with which they have not been previously associated. Hank Marshall (Tommy Lee Jones) is a military scientist who loves his work as a nuclear engineer. He also is a kind, tolerant family man whose wife, Carly, (Jessica Lange) is the sexiest woman on the military base. Jones as a reserved husband dedicated to both his work and his family, is a switch from the intense obsessive character he was in The Fugitive.
The beautiful Jessica Lange who, in THE MUSIC BOX, was the attorney who defended her father accused of being a Nazi criminal, is here a most delightful, uninhibited wife who likes to dress like Marilyn Monroe and have her hair done like Elizabeth Taylor, does a sexy dance with Colonel Vince Johnson (Powers Boothe) that makes the famous dance scene in THE SCENT OF A WOMAN seem like kid stuff. One moment she is Bardot, another she is Hayworth.
So why is the movie not as good as it could have been? Mostly because it has a sub-plot about a cover up by the military when they allow a nuclear explosion to send radiation to people from nearby locations. The two stories, the Marshall family and the nuclear cover up do not blend well together. The film should have concentrated on Lange and Jones or the nuclear underground testing (leaving the sky blue ... as in the film's title) or it should have had more about nuclear testing. Instead, both are short-changed.
Fine acting by Jones, Lange and Boothe ... and do not forget the dance. Others in the cast are Carrie Snodgrass, Amy Locane, and Chris O'Donnell.
Directed by the late Tony Richardson
2.5 bytes 4 Bytes = Absolutely must see. 3 Bytes = Too good to be missed. 2 Bytes = So so. 1 Byte = Save your money.
Ben Hoffman
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