Hard Promises (1991)

A man who doesn't like stable work environments has been away for too many years, and finds out his wife has divorced him and is planning to remarry. He comes home to confront her, trying ... See full summary »

Director:

Martin Davidson

Writer:

Jule Selbo

Stars:

Sissy Spacek, William Petersen, Brian Kerwin

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Sissy Spacek	...	Chris
William Petersen	...	Joey (as William L. Petersen)
Brian Kerwin	...	Walt
Mare Winningham	...	Dawn
Jeff Perry	...	Pinky
Olivia Burnette	...	Beth
Peter MacNicol	...	Stuart
Ann Wedgeworth	...	Chris's Mom
Amy Wright	...	Shelley
Lois Smith	...	Mrs. Bell
Dorothy Deavers	...	Mrs. Bentson
Ed Geldart	...	Mr. Bentson
Niles Williamson	...	Howard
Lucy Childs	...	Edna
Margaret Bowman	...	Walt's Mom

Storyline

A man who doesn't like stable work environments has been away for too many years, and finds out his wife has divorced him and is planning to remarry. He comes home to confront her, trying to convince her not to get married, aided by the daughter, who loves him despite his wandering ways. The couple finds out they still have feelings for each other but must decide how best to handle the contradiction of their lifestyles.

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Plot Keywords:

woman | teacher | small town | love triangle | high school | 

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Family | Romance

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Certificate:

PG

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

31 January 1992 (USA)

Also Known As:

Az ígéret szép szó...

Filming Locations:

Pflugerville, Texas, USA

Box Office

Gross USA:

$306,319

Company Credits

Production Co:

High Horse Films,Stone Group Pictures,Vision International

Technical Specs

Runtime:

95 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Martin Davidson replaced Lee Grant as director.

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Soundtracks

It Ain't Love
Performed by Sean Keller

User Reviews

What movie did these other people see?

One can always count on the IMDb - no matter how bad, how awful a film is, there will be four or five people who invariably give it ten stars and say it's a great film. I mean, I have yet to find the film listed where this does not happen.

Hard Promises does not have one laugh, one real moment, one near-touching scene (even the young daughter's scenes - and I'm a sucker for emotional scenes between parents and children) - the dialog is terrible, the film has not one iota of charm, the direction is blander than bland. The actors all do what they can, but there is nothing to do but work hard to try and make something out of nothing.

Of course, when one does a little further research, one finds that the film was universally panned by just about everyone, and, in its one week engagement at actual movie theaters, it became one of the lowest grossing films in history - a whopping $360,000 or thereabouts. Not many films achieve THAT kind of gross. Great film? No. Good film? No. Bad film? Yes. But, there are obviously four or five people for whom this worked - so, that's something.