Raggedy Man *** (1981, Sissy Spacek, Eric Roberts, Sam Shepard) – Classic Movie Review 6629

Sissy Spacek, fresh from her Oscar for Coal Miner’s Daughter (1980), gets her husband Jack Fisk to direct her as Nita Longley, a spunky wartime divorcée, whose two sons are jealous when handsome sailor Eric Roberts arrives in her life in 1944 small town Gregory, Texas.

Written by William D Wittliff, it is a pleasing, carefully made, often quiet film concentrating on character (at least till the misguided ending), which did not do so well at the box-office, certainly not as well as Coal Miner’s Daughter, with a US gross of only $1,976,198.

Still, it has many solid virtues, and it is definitely worthwhile, if nothing else, for Spacek’s remarkable performance, as well as for Roberts’s performance too.

It is the former art director Fisk’s directorial début.

Also in the cast are William Sanderson, Tracey Walker, R G Armstrong, Henry Thomas and Carey Hollis Jr.

It is shot by Ralf D Bode, produced by Burt Weissbourd and William D Wittliff, scored by Jerry Goldsmith, and designed by John Lloyd.

© Derek Winnert 2018 Classic Movie Review 6629

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