Far and Away, a mildly old-fashioned romantic melodrama that has as many charming moments as embarrassing ones. Much of the charm is supplied by the earnest performances of Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman. [22 May 1992]

Something kicks in about two thirds in, and Far and Away becomes exhilarating. [22 May 1992]

It is entertaining and eye-filling enough to appeal to a mainstream male audience. [22 May 1992]

Handsomely mounted and amiably performed but leisurely and without much dramatic urgency.

Odd as it seems for a film built on such a grand scale, sweet is the operative word here, and that's not meant as an insult. [29 May 1992]

Somehow it works, in part because of the way director Howard keeps his crowded frames abustle with activity, in part because of the sheer indomitability with which his leading characters are endowed by the actors and by writer Dolman, but mostly because the movie takes enlivening chances with its material.

Even at its hokiest, Far and Away is never less than heartfelt.

The old seems old - but the result isn't unpleasant, and moviegoers just might go for it. [22 May 1992]

A somewhat simple-minded, overwrought mock epic. [22 May 1992]

Far and Away is a throwback to the handsome but stodgy historical romances Hollywood used to make, and it can at least be said that it's more ambitious than most of what we'll see this summer. [22 May 1992]

Sometimes it's hard to tell what's mere overreaching and what's nostalgia for Hollywood's former grandiloquence.

Far and Away is a movie that joins astonishing visual splendor with a story so simple-minded it seems intended for adolescents.

Far and Away plays like a theme park attraction: viscerally exciting but detached, impersonal and dull.

Far and Away looks like an epic, but it lacks flavor and texture. It's so predigested there's nothing left to chew on.