Back Roads (1981 film)

This article is about the 1981 film. For the 2018 film, see Back Roads (2018 film).

Back Roads
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Martin Ritt
Written by	Gary DeVore
Produced by	Ronald Shedlo
Starring	Sally Field Tommy Lee Jones
Cinematography	John A. Alonzo
Edited by	Sidney Levin
Music by	Henry Mancini
Production company	CBS Theatrical Films
Distributed by	Warner Bros.
Release date	March 13, 1981 (1981-03-13)
Running time	90 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$7-8 million
Box office	$11.8 million

Back Roads is a 1981 American romantic comedy film starring Sally Field and Tommy Lee Jones. It is directed by Martin Ritt. It got middling reviews and grossed $11 million at the box office. This was the first film produced by CBS Theatrical Films (a short lived film production branch of CBS). The film was distributed by Warner Bros.

Plot

Amy Post is a $20-a-trick hooker in Mobile, Alabama. One night she entertains Elmore Pratt, an ex-boxer who has just been fired from his job at a car wash. He cannot pay her for services rendered.

Pratt punches a plainclothes police officer. He and Amy drive away together, intending to head for California, bickering along the way.

Production

Field and Jones disliked one another intensely during filming. Ritt said that he regretted not being able to make this film work, blaming its failure on both the script and the stars' inability to get along.

Reception

In his March 13, 1981 review, The New York Times critic Vincent Canby wrote that there "seems to be a real rapport" between the two actors. Canby described the film as "extremely appealing and occasionally gutsy and very funny." Other reviewers were less kind. Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times considered the movie formulaic and "heavily laden with schtick", giving the film two stars on a scale of four, although he did comment that Field "gives a performance that cannot be faulted." He considered Back Roads a "less-than-successful" effort by director Ritt.

Cast

• Sally Field as Amy Post
• Tommy Lee Jones as Elmore Pratt
• David Keith as Mason
• Michael V. Gazzo as Tazio
• Barbara Babcock as Ricky's mom
• Miriam Colon as Angel
• Alex Colon as Enrique
• M. Emmet Walsh as Arthur
• Dan Shor as Spivey
• Lee de Broux as "Red"
• Ralph Seymour as Gosler
• Royce D. Applegate as The Father
• John Dennis Johnston as Gilly
• John M. Jackson as Merle
• Woody Watson as Larry
• Bruce M. Fischer as Ezra
• Don "Red" Barry as Pete
• Brian Frishman as Bleitz
• Diane Summerfield as Liz
• Henry Slate as Grover
• Matthew Campion as Stromberg
• Tony Ganios as Bartini
• Arthur Pugh as Taper
• Gerry Okuneff as Oren
• Louie Nicholas as Burt
• Cherie Brantley as Ellen
• James Michael Bailey as Billy
• Fred Baldwin as Gordy
• Billy Holliday as Isaac
• Barbara Thompson as Florence ("Flo")
• Buddy Thompson as Peter
• Phil Gordon as Caleb
• Richard Charles Boyle as Ernest
• Sherrie Whitman as Maralyn
• Lupita Cornejo as Cory
• Bob Hannah as Vernon
• Eliott Keener as Willis
• David Dahlgren as Mel
• John Wilmot as Ed
• Jack E. Shadix as Orville
• Joe Ford as Max
• Duke Alexander as Charlie
• Nell Carter as Waitress
• Billy Jayne as Boy Thief
• Eric Laneuville as Pinball Wizard
• Mike Barton as Police Officer
• Lee McLaughlin as Deputy
• Bennett Wayne Dean Sr. As Street Drug Dealer (uncredited)

External links

• Back Roads at IMDb
• Back Roads at Rotten Tomatoes