The Bridges of Madison County

Streep is an actress known for her uncanny ability with accents, but her quiet performance in "Bridges" proves that she would have made a world-class silent-film star, too.

The strength of Eastwood’s Bridges is in its patience, and how it lets the love story develop from start to finish, even though the audience knows from the beginning the broad strokes of what’s going to happen.

Bridges is another example of Eastwood's remarkable economy of style as both a director and an actor. It is neither his best work nor his worst, though it is a fascinating exploration.

Through the actress's effort and her director's generosity, this book about an irresistible man becomes a movie about a remarkable woman. Madison County is Eastwood's gift to women.

Richard LaGravenese's flashback script craftily tones down Waller's wind, adds a germane subplot and strengthens the novella's framing device. [02 Jun 1995, p.D1]

Eastwood, who directed the picture adequately, is inadequate in this role. He has done a lot of impressive acting in films, but none of it has been sexually romantic, and the age of 64 was not the right time to take up that line of work. [03Jul1995, Pg. 26]

LaGravenese... has understood that the worst of Bridges is not in its dialogue but in the silent musings that occupy its characters' minds. By keeping those thoughts unspoken, by allowing the camera to show instead of having words tell, much has been accomplished.

One of my favorites movies! Great performance of Meryl Streep. The soundtrack of this movie is really good. Old fashioned times...

[SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers.]

This was a horrible movie. It plods along haphazardly with very two-dimensional characters. This did not feel like a romantic movie for the ages, but a lame attempt in justifying a superman-like lover that could do no wrong. This was not believable, and the prose was laughable. Avoid this movie and watch something else. A complete waste of time.

please stop making movies like this. you are making the world a worse place.

De temps en temps (même si ça reste heureusement assez rare !) le grand Clint a un sacré coup de mou et nous démoule un film complètement et désespérément tarte... il étale sa merdasse romantico-pleurnicharde sur deux bonnes heures qu'il n'hésite pas à bourrer de guimauve avariée... Il rajoute et surajoute un gros paquet de clichés qu'il balance n'importe comment, puis il engage une actrice expérimentée qui va se pâmer sur le grand Clint puis regretter le grand Clint, encore trop merveilleusement séduisant en jeune papy... ou en pépé pas encore trop fossilisé. Pendant ce temps-là qui est très long, on ne sait plus si on doit rire de dépit ou s'auto-flageller, le film étant lui-même une auto-flagellation à tenter de regarder : une niaiserie lente mais très concentrée qui s'insinue dans nos veines et nous fait mourir d'ennui. En vérité, devant un tel "film", une telle "oeuvre", toute la collection Harlequin est partie en auto-combustion... C'est donc ici une chose atroce, atrocement niaise et dégoulinante, interdite par la Convention de Genève... même pour faire parler les prisonniers (trop de cervelles qui implosaient).