Blue Sky

Jessica Lange stars as army wife Carly Marshall in Tony Richardson's last film, set in the early 1960s. Carly, a very beautiful woman, spices up the drabness of military life with the kind of promiscuity and exhibitionist behavior that has kept her husband, Hank (Tommy Lee Jones), from getting the promotions he's due while embarrassing her children, Glen (Chris O'Donnell) and Chris (Amy Locane), and keeping the family moving from one base to another as Carly wears out their welcome. After their most recent move to a base in Alabama, Carly starts flirting with base commander Gen. Vince Johnson (Powers Boothe) at the officers club and the general suddenly realizes that this would be the perfect time for Hank, an expert on atomic power, to go to Nevada to monitor some underground tests. Although he knows what's going on, Hank must obey, and Vince wastes no time in getting horizontal with Carly. When Hank uncovers evidence that civilians are being exposed to massive doses of radiation by leakage from the underground tests, everyone's life becomes even more complicated. Lange and Jones both do some of the best work of their careers in roles of a richness and complexity more often seen on the stage than in films. Richardson's BLUE SKY is a terrific finale for a unique talent.