A FLASH OF GREEN

**_Local politics & drama in a rural Florida town on the southwest coast, 1961_** Ed Harris stars as a brooding reporter who is compromised by a seemingly necessary deal made with an ambitious county commissioner (Richard Jordan); meanwhile he longs for a widowed friend (Blair Brown). On the surface, the story’s about saving an unspoiled bay from an arrogant developer, but it’s really about the protagonist’s day-to-day struggles with his ailing wife, his conscience and, in general, the negatives of living in a ‘fallen’ world. The idea is that a person can be complicated enough to hold two opposing views, but there’s a problem if lust for lucre turns you into an unfaithful two-faced. The director is from Florida and well captures the moist heat of the southern Florida coast, as well as the nature of small town life where everyone thinks they know everyone else’s business and unveiled secrets can cause one to flee the county. Unfortunately, the story’s not as compelling or rewarding as the director’s “Ulee’s Gold” or Harris’ similar “China Moon” and “Pollock” or even “Milk Money.” Blair was 36 during shooting and isn’t depicted in a very attractive way, as she was 3-4 years earlier in “Continental Divide” and “Altered States.” She could’ve been; she just wasn’t. One last thing, the movie poster is one of the blandest I can recall. The illustration of Ed Harris doesn’t look much like him. Any chance of success the flick had died with that poster. It runs 2h 1m and was shot in 1983 at Fort Myers, which is a 2h 20m drive south of the Tampa area. GRADE: C+/B-