The Trip to Bountiful

Jessie Mae (Glynn) refuses her mother-in-law (Page) her one pleasure in life: singing hymns. The doughty old lady lights out for a sentimental journey to her birthplace and her past, meeting all kinds of decent friendly folks along the way. Scripted by Horton Foote from his own play, this is a fragile blend of moods and memories with one solid showcase role for a skilled actress. Geraldine Page seizes her chance, though she is too generous to swamp the supporting players. Masterson's images of small-town America are imbued with a luminous and melancholy nostalgia, but otherwise the film is not mounted with any special imagination, and its fusty, old-fashioned (not to say reactionary) lauding of homespun values sticks in the craw.