"Flesh and Bone" was the second film to be directed by Steve Kloves, the first being "The Fabulous Baker Boys". It was also, to date, the last film to be directed by Kloves, even though nearly thirty years have passed since it came out in 1993.
In the opening scene, a family in Texas take a young boy named Arlis into their home when he says that he is lost. Unfortunately, they have fallen victim to a scam; that night Arlis lets his father, Roy, into the house to commit a burglary, and when he is disturbed Roy murders the entire family apart from a baby girl.
The rest of the film is set in the present day. Arlis is now an adult, earning a living restocking vending machines. His is a lonely lifestyle, involving driving long distances in his truck. The film deals with his relationship with a young woman named Kay, whom he meets during his travels, and with what happens when he is reunited with Roy, whom he hates and fears. (It would appear that Roy has never been brought to justice for his crime). Other major characters are Kay's estranged husband Reese and Roy's much younger girlfriend, Ginnie. Towards the end it is revealed that Kay is the young girl who survived Roy's massacre of her family. The title "Flesh and Bone" refers to the family relationship between Arlis and Roy, and may derive from the saying "What's bred in the bone will not come out of the flesh".
The action takes place in the flat, largely featureless plains of Texas, and it seemed to me that Kloves was influenced stylistically by Terrence Malick's two early films "Badlands" and "Days of Heaven", both of which are also set in similar Midwestern landscapes and which also deal with murder. (In 1993 Malick had only directed those two films; his third, "The Thin Red Line", would not appear until 1998, twenty years after "Days of Heaven". He has since made several others). I would not, however, rank the film nearly as highly as either of Malick's, especially "Days of Heaven" which I regard as one of the greatest films of the seventies. Malick and his cinematographers are able to find a haunting beauty in the landscapes in which they are set, whereas in "Flesh and Bone" the Texas plains never look anything other than bleak and forbidding.
The differences between this film and "The Fabulous Baker Boys" were perhaps best summed up by Roger Ebert, who said that the earlier film was "filled with life and spontaneity", whereas there is a "forced quality" to "Flesh and Bone", Which he described as "depressing for some of the right reasons, and all of the wrong ones". I would also add that "The Fabulous Baker Boys" contains three excellent acting contributions from Jeff and Beau Bridges and from Michelle Pfeiffer. There is nothing really comparable in "Flesh and Bone", although Dennis Quaid is reasonably good as the haunted, taciturn Arlis, and it was interesting to see Meg Ryan in something other than the romantic comedies which seemed to be her stock-in-trade during the late eighties and nineties. (I preferred her, however, in "Courage under Fire", another serious drama she made during this period).
This is never going to be one of my favourite films. It nevertheless seems a shame that Kloves gave up directing after only two films. "The Fabulous Baker Boys" is excellent, and even in "Flesh and Bone" there are enough directorial touches to suggest that he could have been a very accomplished director had he persisted with this career path. 5/10.
In the opening scene, a family in Texas take a young boy named Arlis into their home when he says that he is lost. Unfortunately, they have fallen victim to a scam; that night Arlis lets his father, Roy, into the house to commit a burglary, and when he is disturbed Roy murders the entire family apart from a baby girl.
The rest of the film is set in the present day. Arlis is now an adult, earning a living restocking vending machines. His is a lonely lifestyle, involving driving long distances in his truck. The film deals with his relationship with a young woman named Kay, whom he meets during his travels, and with what happens when he is reunited with Roy, whom he hates and fears. (It would appear that Roy has never been brought to justice for his crime). Other major characters are Kay's estranged husband Reese and Roy's much younger girlfriend, Ginnie. Towards the end it is revealed that Kay is the young girl who survived Roy's massacre of her family. The title "Flesh and Bone" refers to the family relationship between Arlis and Roy, and may derive from the saying "What's bred in the bone will not come out of the flesh".
The action takes place in the flat, largely featureless plains of Texas, and it seemed to me that Kloves was influenced stylistically by Terrence Malick's two early films "Badlands" and "Days of Heaven", both of which are also set in similar Midwestern landscapes and which also deal with murder. (In 1993 Malick had only directed those two films; his third, "The Thin Red Line", would not appear until 1998, twenty years after "Days of Heaven". He has since made several others). I would not, however, rank the film nearly as highly as either of Malick's, especially "Days of Heaven" which I regard as one of the greatest films of the seventies. Malick and his cinematographers are able to find a haunting beauty in the landscapes in which they are set, whereas in "Flesh and Bone" the Texas plains never look anything other than bleak and forbidding.
The differences between this film and "The Fabulous Baker Boys" were perhaps best summed up by Roger Ebert, who said that the earlier film was "filled with life and spontaneity", whereas there is a "forced quality" to "Flesh and Bone", Which he described as "depressing for some of the right reasons, and all of the wrong ones". I would also add that "The Fabulous Baker Boys" contains three excellent acting contributions from Jeff and Beau Bridges and from Michelle Pfeiffer. There is nothing really comparable in "Flesh and Bone", although Dennis Quaid is reasonably good as the haunted, taciturn Arlis, and it was interesting to see Meg Ryan in something other than the romantic comedies which seemed to be her stock-in-trade during the late eighties and nineties. (I preferred her, however, in "Courage under Fire", another serious drama she made during this period).
This is never going to be one of my favourite films. It nevertheless seems a shame that Kloves gave up directing after only two films. "The Fabulous Baker Boys" is excellent, and even in "Flesh and Bone" there are enough directorial touches to suggest that he could have been a very accomplished director had he persisted with this career path. 5/10.