Better Late Then Never

A lot of fun.

It's not great by any means, but it's a pretty good movie that didn't leave me filled with regret for investing time in it.

I wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.

I agree with all the other reviewers in that this is quite a well made movie, however you don't have watch too closely to see that actually not a lot of wheat gets cut by these custom cutters. In scenes with the combines, they spend most of their time just driving aimlessly around an already cut field in the dark or even worse making it appear like they are cutting wheat by in fact just driving the machine through some scrub grass. Some minimal stock footage was used of combines in wheat but it amounts to seconds of the film.Its sad that the movie could not have had the chance to get some decent shots of the machines doing the job.This is the only major factual fault in what really is a well produced, directed and acted TV movie.

This is an excellent movie that is very hard to see these days. There is a difficult to find VHS tape version but no DVD yet. That's a shame because this movie deals with many topics that seem timeless. A man, Dennis Weaver, dealing with his mortality and a spoiled and shiftless male model, well played by Kurt Russell, who learns from him what it is to be a man. Mare Winningham is very good as the unlikely love interest to Russell who helps him make the transition from spoiled brat to responsible adult.This film is very patriotic yet deals well with a subplot of how the Vietnam war tore our country apart. Weaver's son is a draft dodger from that conflict who flees to Canada to avoid the draft. Weaver's scenes with him are heartbreaking.Director Joseph Sargent weaves all these elements and more to create a memorable movie experience. If you can find this movie, I highly urge you to give a viewing. You won't regret it.

Despite its simple plot, this television movie can be viewed on several levels. This story of a stranded model who reluctantly takes a temporary job on a wheat harvesting crew is about the values we cherish. Kurt Russell as the model and Dennis Weaver as the cancer-stricken harvester who needs help on his crew lend real credibility to their roles. In less than two hours the script tells us the meaning of life and death and what love is and what it isn't. This film tells us about the self-renewal which can come from hard work and responsibility.Kurt Russell plays Larry, a male model who is stranded in a small Kansas town when he screws up a photo shoot. He literally runs into Dennis Weaver, who is looking for a warm body for his harvesting crew. He isn't too particular or he wouldn't hire this man who has never done a honest days work and has the hands to show it. Despite some rough moments Russell learns the value of hard work and becomes a leader on the crew.Several subplots are cleverly weaved into the delightful mix. Dennis Weaver finds that he has cancer and is advised by his doctor to "bail out". This is easier said than done, because he has obligations to farmers whose wheat must be cut. He reaches out to his son, who fled to Canada because of his objection to the war. It is obvious that there is still tension between the two of them and the son returns to Canada. There is a competing harvester (played by Wilford Brimley) whose son went to Viet Nam and was maimed. Mare Winningham plays Weaver's daughter, a girl who is looking for a ticket to a new life. In the end Larry offers the only hope for another harvest.The focus of this film is the relationship between Russell and Weaver. Despite the difference in their backgrounds, they have much in common. They meet on a day which has not been kind to either of them. Russell has lost his job and Weaver has discovered his cancer. "It's been that kind of day", he tells Russell. Uneasy and volatile at first, the relationship develops into one of affection and even love.Filmed in Canada there is much more emphasis on scenery than usual in this television movie. "Do you ever get tired of this?", Russell asks Weaver as he gazes across the wheat fields framed in the setting sun. I don't know about him, but I never did.

I have looked for this movie on TV, satellite, and rental. It has not been shown in our area in over six years. I would like to see it released or at least shown on TV so I can copy it. It's a very good family/romance type movie. That also deals honestly with life, love, growing up, facing responsibilities and the hardship of farming during wheat harvest.