Another of the movies that was on my DVR that I noticed is getting another airing is The Milagro Beanfield War. Its next airing is on TCM overnight tonight at 2:00 AM (so that's Oct. 15 Eastern Time, but still late on the 14th in Pacific Time).
The movie opens up with a montage of night descending on the town of Milagro, NM, a series of images that informs the viewer that this is a Quirky Town, full of Quirky People. Among those people is Joe Mondragon (Chick Vennera), a farmer who isn't very successful, largely because he's lost his water rights along with everyone else in town who had been farming. He gets in his truck and nearly runs into a construction crew. They're working for Ladd Devine (Richard Bradford), who has bought up a lot of the land to build a development of second homes for the ultra-wealthy. And having political interference with the governor (M. Emmet Walsh), he was able to get the water rights from the locals, which is part of why Milagro is a dying town.
In frustration, Joe kicks the valve on one of the irrigation pipes, breaking it open. The water runs down onto one of his fields, and Joe realizes that he can grow beans on this little plot of land, at least in part as a protest against Devine and his property development company. The locals, most of whom are many generations descended from the Spanish who colonized the area in the 1500s, begin to take Joe's side.
Meanwhile, several Anglos also come in to take sides. A lot this has to do with the Devine company; in addition to Ladd he's got an adult daughter Flossie (Melanie Griffith) who gets involved. The Devine side also realize that they have to do something to get Joe to stop growing those beans, which is why they bring in Kyril Montana (Christoper Walken), a sort of hired gun who knows how to use plausible threats of violence to get his way.
On the side of the locals, there's white lawyer/publisher Charlie Bloom (John Heard), who moved to Milagro some time back and has been an activist ever since, presumably fancying himself a white savior. And suddenly showing up one day is Herbie Platt (Daniel Stern), a young idealist working on his Ph.D. in sociology who decided to do a study on Milagro, embedding himself in the town for six months to do it.
The Milagro Beanfield War has a lot to like about it, mostly thanks to the ensemble cast of mostly supporting players who come together. There's also the cinematography; it would be hard to make this part of the country not look good. Also worth noting is the score, which won Dave Grusin an Oscar. On the other hand, the movie is also a bit of a mess, largely down to the script. It makes the characters too damn quirky for their own good, along with requiring a bit too much suspension of disbelief. The characters at times seem more like archetypes than fully fleshed-out characters.
However, The Milagro Beanfield War is not without its charms, which is why it's definitely worth at least one watch, at least to decide for yourself what to make of it.
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