Joel Anderson

Based on the play by Sam Shepard, this trailer-trash drama pits a pitiful family against con men ranging from sleazy bar owners to shady real estate agents. Adapted for the screen by Bruce Beresford.

Curse of the Starving Class -- A poverty-stricken farming family attempts to put food on the table while holding on to their personal dreams of a better life. However, as they individually pursue their own dreams, the family unity begins to disintegrate, until they are all alienated from each other.

A poverty-stricken farming family attempts to put food on the table while holding on to their personal dreams of a better life. However, as they individually pursue their own dreams, the family unity begins to disintegrate, until they are all alienated from each other.

Based on Sam Shepard's Obie-winning play, this gritty drama follows the Tate family, whose patriarch, Weston (James Woods), is an alcoholic Vietnam vet unable to mend his self-destructive ways long enough to ensure the future of his struggling family farm. Weston's determined wife, Ella (Kathy Bates), clings to dreams of a better life, as do their two children (Henry Thomas and Kristin Fiorella), but their stark existence threatens to crushes their hope.