A few years ago, I went through an Irish phase.  I should be more specific.  I subscribed to a few YouTube channels dedicated to Ireland’s influencers giving their opinions on topics.  It had been the culmination of taking a few history courses focusing on the Emerald Isle, as well as listening to their music while studying for my field exams as part of the requirements for completing a Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in American History at Loyola University Chicago.  My apologies for that long winded explanation for how I landed on videos of Erin’s daughters and sons reacting to American potato chips, or crisps as they would call them.  One of the reasons I stopped watching is because they rarely had anything good to say about the Catholic Church, which is understandable given Catholicism’s fraught history in that country.  However unfortunate were those events, they ignore the teachings that humans so often fail, which is one of the things that keeps me going in my Faith.  As it stands today, most cultural outlets such as movies like to pretend that the religion that formed Ireland is not a part of its heritage.  We can see this in Far and Away (1992), and this is not my only criticism of the film.

I was handed a criticism in the opening seconds of Far and Away when it proclaims to begin in Ireland in 1892.  Ideally, it should start fifty years earlier, but nobody asked me at the time.  That would have been silly since I was twelve, but I digress.  What is less silly is Joseph Donnelly Sr. (Niall Tóibín) taking a mortal fall when the area’s landlords come through his village and cause a raucous.  There are none among the locals that like their overseers, and they are ready to fight whenever the higher-ups come near.  Joseph asks to be taken home to his tenant farm and sons to die, and it is there that he is greeted by Joseph Donnelly Jr. (Tom Cruise).  Between the high rents that keep their family in debt, and now the death of his father, young Joseph is ready to murder the person who collects their money: Daniel Christie (Robert Prosky).  Fuel is added to the literal fire of Joseph’s desire for revenge when Daniel’s henchman, Stephen Chase (Thomas Gibson), burns down the Donnelly’s house.  Following dad’s funeral, Junior sets out to complete his vengeance quest.  Stopping at an inn, Joseph encounters Daniel in person, who is much more jovial than the young man expects.  Nonetheless, Joseph tails Daniel but is unable to get a shot off before the gentleman makes it back to his house.  Joseph sleeps in the Christie’s stable, and in the morning he is spotted by Daniel’s daughter, Shannon Christie (Nicole Kidman).  In her startlement, she stabs him in the leg with a pitchfork and screams for help from her father.  Instead of calling the authorities, the Christies nurse Joseph back to health, though as her mother, Nora Christie (Barbara Babcock), reasons, it is only so he can be executed.  Despite warnings to stay away from the intruder, Shannon is fascinated by Joseph, sometimes inappropriately.  As a self-described “modern,” she detests the conformity of high society.  Hence, she comes up with the idea of running away to the United States (US) so she can have her own land and ride horses on it as she pleases.  To make this a reality, she asks Joseph to come with her since ladies are not allowed to travel alone.  Though he has similar aspirations, he wants nothing to do with her.  Besides, he has his own problems.  In the early hours of the next day, he is supposed to have a duel with Stephen.  They are about to fire at each other through the mist when Shannon comes along and convinces Joseph to get on the carriage and escape.  From there, it is on to the US, landing in Boston.  In 1892, it would have been Ellis Island, New York, but this historian digresses.  It does not go as either of them expect, though the transition is particularly hard for Shannon.  After losing everything of value upon debarking, they are forced to stay in Beantown instead of heading to their dream land of Oklahoma.  In the city, they are taken in by local ward boss Mike Kelly (Colm Meaney), who gets them a job at a chicken factory and lodges them in a whore house.  After a while, though, Mike takes advantage of Joseph’s penchant for boxing, turning the new arrival into a prize fighter.  Pugilism brings in extra money for Joseph, but it annoys Shannon, who accuses him of putting on airs with his fancy new clothes.  Still, they are getting close to finally moving on when Mike requests that Joseph engage in one last high stakes bout.  Joseph takes part only with Shannon’s encouragement, thinking of the money, but it ends with his defeat.  Angry with the loss, Mike kicks Joseph and Shannon onto the street and confiscates all their earnings.  With it snowing and not having eaten in days, they break into an upper-class home for shelter.  Just as they are confessing their love for one another, the owners show up and shoot Shannon in the shoulder as they are fleeing.  Joseph takes Shannon to the Christies, who have come to Boston on the heels of their home being destroyed and to look for their daughter.  He leaves her with them and departs for the West to build railroads.  Still, he cannot get Shannon out of his mind, or the admonition his father had imparted before dying to obtain his own land.  Thus, he joins a wagon train that stops in Oklahoma.  Would it surprise you that Shannon is there, too, with Stephen and her parents?  What comes next is a land rush where claimants must race to specified lots, plant their flag, and thereby get a free parcel.  There is a final struggle with Stephen, who badly wounds Joseph.  However, Joseph is saved by Shannon’s love, and they presumably live happily ever after.

Beyond Far and Away, there was no happily ever after for Cruise and Kidman.  They had been married at the time of filming, but they eventually divorced in 2001.  This Catholic never likes to hear of relationships ending in this manner, no matter if it involves celebrities or scientologists.  Speaking of religion, to allude to the introduction, did you read any mention of Catholicism?  There are three concrete references in the film.  The first is a priest leading the funeral procession, the second is Joseph talking about going to church with a chorus girl, and the third is a brief moment in Oklahoma when you see a priest walk through a scene . . . carrying a watermelon for some reason.  This may not seem like a big deal, but it is a fair criticism to level at the film, and one that allows me to combine my Faith and historical knowledge.  The Ireland we are greeted by in 1892 is one in which a few people own all the land.  This much is true, as is the growing resentment against this system.  What is not discussed is that it was based on which Christian church you attended.  Though the Catholic Irish were the overwhelming majority of the populace, they had to farm and give the bulk of the produce to their Protestant landlords.  It was a system that had been in place for hundreds of years, and one that engendered many uprisings since its introduction.  It was a contributing factor to the infamous Potato Famine in the 1840s, which is when this film should have been set.  Essentially, Catholics were second class citizens in their own country.  With this in mind, it is a little difficult to imagine Joseph and Shannon getting together.  The rules were different in the US, but it was not as divergent as you might expect.  All of this is, of course, blissfully ignored in the film.

Because I cannot blissfully ignore such omissions, Far and Away does not get my recommendation.  You would also be hard pressed to get one from somebody hailing from Ireland since the two main characters are not of Irish extraction.  There is some pretty cinematography, but too much else that it gets wrong.