aj989 So-called "Woman's Films," containing narratives built around the dilemmas (romantic or otherwise) faced by the film's central female character, were popular attractions at movie theaters throughout the 1930s and 1940s only to die out as tastes changed. Audiences were drawn to these films, which usually featured strong female characters, romance, and stories of female perseverance. "Cross Creek" functions more or less as a "woman's film." It's the story of Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings (Mary Steenburgen), the author of the classic novel "The Yearling." Seeking inspiration after a fallow creative period, Rawlings sets out, despite the concerns and objections of others, including her current husband, to a remote part of rural, backwoods Florida, populated only by people who live off the land, not because they have to, but because it's the only way the know how to live. And they love it all the same. After an initial rough start in her new home in Cross Creek, Rawlings perseveres. At Cross Creek with the help of her maid Geechee (Alfre Woodard), neighbors (Rip Torn and Joanna Miles), a farmhand/moonshiner (Ike Eisenmann) and the pastoral beauty of her surroundings, Rawlings finds community, solace and the inspiration to write "The Yearling" after a series of repeated rejections by her publisher. Marjorie's romantic life is a lesser concern for the film. She has a suitor (Peter Coyote), who she rejects at one point, before agreeing to his proposal, but the film is more about Marjorie's love for her surroundings. Martin Ritt captures the damp, sweltering beauty of this part of Florida wonderfully. The production design and costumes are additionally well done.Refreshingly, the film largely refuses to condescend to those who call Cross Creek home. When they could've easily been portrayed as a bunch of hicks for cheap laughs or simply out of derision, Cross Creek's inhabitants are seen as normal people living in a unique environment. Only Geechee, the maid played with wonderful exuberance by Alfre Woodard, is rather cliché ridden. (It should be said that the film really isn't interested in Geechee at all – she doesn't even possess a real name) The character is a stereotypically loyal, deferential servant used occasionally to lighten the film's usually somber mood. And her boyfriend, LeRoy, is shown as simply shiftless. A few other faults remain with the film. "Cross Creek," in general, has all the ingredients of a good "Woman's Picture" (escapism, female triumph and perseverance, a little romance), except for, perhaps, the most important part - a strong female lead. Steenburgen, often appearing as she's about to wilt, just isn't strong or compelling enough. She's awfully milquetoast and dainty in the lead role, which makes her character's eventual triumphant adaptation to her often harsh and unwelcoming surroundings a little less believable. Coming off her massive success in "Melvin & Howard," "Cross Creek" was the first time she had the opportunity to headline a major motion picture and it was also basically the last time as well. The film (decidedly character driven) also drags at times and one occasionally may wonder, over the course of the film's two hour running time, about the film's larger meaning and the reasons for it being made. Is it about the importance of community; the inspiring powers of nature; a woman's quest for independence and meaning; or is it simply the tale of how "The Yearling" came to be? The film doesn't quite seem to know either.

bkoganbing Film fans best know the work of Marjorie Kiniston Rawlings through the adaption of her best known work The Yearling and the later filming of an original story for the screen in The Sun Comes Up. Cross Creek is our opportunity to look inside the mind and character of the woman who was the creator of these classics.As played beautifully by Mary Steenburgen, we meet Rawlings during the Twenties as a woman with a passion to go to the land and a burning desire to write. She's been submitting potboiler romance novels to publishers who keep telling her to reach for her soul in her writings.Steenburgen divorces her husband and moves to some Florida swamp land which she by dint of her own hard work and the help of neighbors, she turns into a decent patch for an orange grove. One of them, storekeeper Peter Coyote, evinces more than a neighborly interest.It's her letters from her town of Cross Creek that excite Steenburgen's potential publisher, Malcolm McDowell, the simple lives and dignity of her neighbors with all their flaws. Especially neighbor Rip Torn and his family, they become the models for the characters in The Yearling.Cross Creek earned Academy Award nominations for Rip Torn as Best Supporting Actor and Alfre Woodard playing a black woman who Steenburgen takes in and works for her. Cross Creek also got nominations for Best Music Score and Costume Design. Why Mary Steenburgen wasn't nominated for Best Actress is a mystery.One really ought to see Cross Creek back to back with The Sun Comes Up which was Rawlings original work for the screen and was Jeanette MacDonald's last film. Seeing Cross Creek puts a lot of The Sun Comes Up in context with MacDonald's character and with how Rawlings is interpreted by Steenburgen. Both films will take on a new dimension if anyone has not seen the other.Cross Creek is one excellent piece of film making about the genesis of a great American writer.

maryvey This is a gentle movie that reflects the pace of life for old Florida in a way that settles in my soul and brings back my childhood. Cross Creek looks deeply into a different lifestyle that actually still existed less than 50 years ago. In my childhood, Florida was a slow paced, slice of something that had ceased to exist else-country. Though the extremes may have seemed harsh, this movie captures the sweet taste of pre-Disney Florida, and the best part of the movie for me (even though I agree with the accolades for the acting, photography, etc.) is that Cross Creek is still there. You can go to Orange Lake and take a step backwards in time. This is my Florida, and I will always love it.

Al (darien3) Sorry - but I have to strongly disagree with anyone who thinks this movie's boring. I think they've missed the point. The story is supposed to be reflective of the times in which it takes place. This is a VERY "laid-back," rural Florida. Although a "woman's story," in a certain sense, I admire the bravery that this "genteel" woman had - just as I admire anyone who "does their own thing." She took a LOT of chances in order to follow her desire to make something of herself - on her own.I could go on about specific points in the story, but really don't have the time right now to do that - and, in any case, some others on here have already done that. What I will say is that this is one of the best "character studies" that I have EVER had the pleasure to see.Perhaps we have become too accustomed to the continuous action-packed and often violent films of today for some viewers to fully appreciate a just plain good dramatic character study such as "Cross Creek." Perhaps we've become too used to the language in today's films: i.e. every other word being "the f word..." Maybe that at least in part accounts for how and why some might consider a just plain down-to-earth GOOD drama as being "boring."Give it another chance - this time watching it without expecting a "thrill ride," but rather in studying the effort in acting which goes into each and every one of the characters in the story. I guarantee that you will then appreciate it a lot more, viewing it as I believe its creators intended.