Square Dance (1987)

An action-packed slog

Absolutely Fantastic

It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

Square Dance is a film short on plot, but long on character, kind of like an O'Neil work of which one of the stars here Jason Robards, Jr., is most familiar. A lot of the hopelessness of Eugene O'Neil is prominent among these people.If there's a lesson to be learned it's that we make our life choices early and it's hard to change. Jason Robards is a hardbitten old man who has a few acres of farm land on which he raises his granddaughter Winona Ryder who is a most naive young girl having drunk fully from the teachings of the fundamentalist church they belong to.It was her mother who after she had Ryder left home. Now however Jane Alexander is married to Guich Koock who owns a service station and has come back for Ryder.Jane and Gooch live in Fort Worth and the relative sophistication of Fort Worth is too much for Ryder. She forms a friendship with Rob Lowe who is cast in the most offbeat role of his career, a good looking but developmentally disabled young man. He has a gift for music and plays the violin strictly by ear.Simply what happens is that Alexander and Ryder are just too different to get along. And her relationship with Lowe ends in a near tragedy.In his recent memoir Rob Lowe says he took the part to extend his range and show he is more than capable of being the Eighties 'It' boy as he described himself. Square Dance may have been the first time he's attempted a broadening of the range, but in the years since he's not been a teen heart throb, he's met a number of acting challenges successfully.Ryder was all innocence and shine in Square Dance which was her breakthrough part as well. In fact the whole ensemble performed well in this most unknown of Rob Lowe films.

a couple of years ago bought square dance at a video store on VHS and watched the movie from start to finish and i have to say this movie is very good but very underrated. let's start with the film debut of wynonna rider. i thought her film debut was very astonishing and to be considered a promising actress in that decade which she continued to promise more great performances up until her arrest for shoplifting years ago.Jane Alexander and Jason robards were very affective in this film. last but not least rob Lowe's performance.let's start by saying that his performance was very underrated however was nominated for a golden globe, i thought he should of got an Oscar nomination for his role as mentally in-pair gema now that's the hardest role Lowe has ever taken on. if you can find this movie on VHS or DVD go buy it!!!1

I like the movie but without saying too much to spoil it the scene with winona, rob and debi richter (if you watched the movie you know what scene) that one scene is a bit disturbing but other then that the movie is one of my faves. but to this day i can't watch debi richter in anything. I think winona portrayed a powerful performance with a character that is confused and lost on life, jason robards as the grandfather is very well portrayed, the setting i couldn't see it in any other setting besides Texas where it is set it seems to fit the movie and the atmosphere tremendously. rob lowe as a mentally retarted young man rounds the movie out very well as good as his portrayal in the outsiders 4 years earlier.

Square Dance had a great cast and great acting, which helped make it's story more alive.Some parts were slow but over all it was a good movie.Throughout the movie I was impressed to see that Lowe could be a good actor.All those true Romance fans will love this one.Square Dance was also Ryder's first staring role.