Morgan's Ferry

Sam Pillsbury directs this drama about three escaped convicts that seek shelter in the home of a lonely southern woman(Kelly McGillis). She will give in to an extent, but she keeps her values and seems unconcerned about the unwanted guests on her farm. Billy Zane is very impressive. The other two convicts are played by Henry Rollins and Johnny Galecki. This movie offers nothing memorable, but is fine for a lazy day. My only qualm was realizing this is not the glamorous and sexy McGillis we fell in love with thirteen years earlier in TOP GUN. Even without makeup, she is a flawless actress.

I thought this movie would be like a lot of the other escaped convict takes a hostage movies. Except it wasn't McGillis' character was never intimidated by these men and actually felt a little responsible for them. I love Billy Zane and he has such an untameable personality and smoldering sensuality that even as a dirty old con, he comes through as a sweet sensitive nice guy and you end up really wanting the best for this guy. I liked it, and it's a good date flic.

Wow. My girlfriend and I just bought this VHS at our local Salvation Army, for $2.00. It was still in the "Blockbuster Video" preowned shrink wrap! But with Rollins and Zane, who could pass it up? It isn't spectacular, with dialog and plot that are consistent with a Lifetime original. The acting is pretty bad, with Johnny Galecki delivering the only passable Southern drawl. Rollins's accent is sporadic, as is Galecki's limp(the film opens up after he has an established foot injury).

Hey, it was only 90 minutes long, so if you're into Henry Rollins or Billy Zane, then you should give it a watch.

I only checked this out because Henry Rollins has a lead role in it, and to be truthful, I didn't expect too much from plot other than a typical 'cons turn on each other for a violent climactic battle' kind of a deal. How wrong I was. The whole film plays out with a gentle whimsy evocative of the Waltons, or the great TV serialisation of The adventures of Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn. They make good use of the 'deep south' setting, with no need for making out that the inhabitants are inbred cannibals or sodomites, the music score is perfect, and the performances across the board are solid. The story loses momentum around 2/3rds of the movie, but is replaced by a rather nicely done bitter/sweet ending.

Its never going to be considered a classic, cult or otherwise, but if you liked 'Crossroads' or the above TV shows I mentioned, or just want a well put together, unpretentious, engaging film, then you could do far, far worse.

"Morgan's Ferry" is simple movie about simple people in a simple place and a simpler time. At the center of the story is a spartan middle-aged spinster and her austere, deep South, backwater existence. When she crosses paths with an escaped convict on the run, the awakening within her is thing of grace and beauty to behold.