Less-than-inspired by Anton Chekhov's
Uncle Vanya, Michael Blakemore's COUNTRY LIFE revolves around the by now familiar conflict between shallow city slickers and coarse but worthy bumpkins. The setting has been relocated to an Australia sheep farm, where Jack (John Hargreaves) and his
niece Sally (Kerry Fox), whom he's raised as a daughter, welcome a visit from her absentee Dad (Blakemore) and his glam wife (Greta Scacchi), direct from sophisticated London. The usual complications ensue, though without the requisite happy ending for dumpy wallflower Sally that Hollywood would
doubtless have imposed. Foreign filmmaking the way it used to be.
Released:
1994
Rated:
PG-13
Length:
117 mins