The Milagro Beanfield War

A New Mexican handyman (Vennera), by a mix of magical intervention and carelessness, kicks down the sluice gate of a privatised water supply, which converts his parched ancestral patch into a potentially fertile field of beans. But a developer (Bradford) in cahoots with all the men-with-no-smiles from State Governor (Walsh) down, wants the water for a planned leisure valley. Battle is enjoined. Which cues stormy domestic quarrels, riotous community meetings, the re-illusionment of a hack (Heard), a chance for the local conscience (Braga) to look vital in jeans and crisp white blouse, and for the sheriff (Blades) to display his lopsided grin. A tragic accident threatens the happy ending, but hang on in. Ostensibly a celebration of the triumph of community over exploitation and injustice, Redford's film sustains a slow mood of simpatico amiability and photographs the landscape with moony or golden washes that are perhaps hard to dislike, but is slain by its adherence to an outdated populist mythology.