THE BRIDGES OF MADISON COUNTY

 The Bridges of Madison County is a lovely romantic drama that gently unveils the four-day relationship between a lonely Iowa housewife and a world-traveling photographer that occurred in 1965.

The film opens in “the present” as siblings Michael and Carolyn Johnson arrive at their childhood farmhouse to settle the estate of their mother, Francesca (Streep). They are puzzled when it is revealed that their mother has requested to be cremated and that her ashes be scattered at the nearby Roseman Bridge, rather than being buried next to her husband. As the two begin going through their mother’s belongings, they discover that she once had a very brief yet intensely meaningful affair with professional photographer Robert Kinkaid (Clint Eastwood). As they begin reading the journals in which Francesca detailed her time with Kinkaid, the two children come to understand their mother in a more mature way as they also question the trajectories of their own lives and marriages.

Francesca is an Italian war bride whose marriage was, at least partially, a means to relocate to the United States. As the story unfolds it becomes obvious that small farm life in Iowa was not what her dream had been, yet it was now her reality. When her husband and two children head off to the State Fair, Francesca elects to stay home to have four days to herself. Fate intervenes when photographer Kinkaid arrives in her driveway to ask her for directions. He’s visiting Madison County to photograph its covered bridges for National Geographic magazine. Francesca offers to ride with him to help him find Roseman Bridge and the two strike up a conversation that leads to dinner as the pair discover their mutual admiration for each other. Neither has any intention of advancing things beyond friendship and discussion.

Streep gives a reserved and authentic performance accompanied by her Italian-Americanized accent. This role garnered Streep with one of the twenty-one acting Oscar nominations she has received. She unveils the mundane despair that Francesca endures with a magnificent deftness. Francesca’s history is fully established through Streep’s facial expressions and physicality. Eastwood, who is the film’s director, is sublime as the earnest and passionate Kinkaid, a character keen on his observations of life and the bigger world. It’s a wonderful departure from the gruff and angry characters he typically portrays.

My one complaint with the film is that the actors playing Francesca’s adult children in the “current day” scenes are quite dreadful. In fact, the first 15 minutes of the film set in the current day is like watching a poorly directed and poorly acted junior high school production. The staging is bizarre, and the dialogue is utterly contrived. Then switch to the past and Streep and Eastwood somehow convert that junior high feel into a Broadway-worthy production. The transitions are jarring because of the drastic contrast in acting skills between the two time periods. Thankfully, Streep and Eastman prevail… as does the film. The Bridges of Madison County is a touching tale, and one well worth experiencing.