Rating: 
Summary: "THIS KIND OF CERTAINTY COMES BUT ONCE IN A LIFETIME."
Review: This movie is one of my all-time favorite romances. It begins with adult siblings looking through their deceased Mother's things where they discover a secret. They "find their way" to a letter from their Mother (Francesca played by Meryl Streep) which is the content of this movie (along with 3 journals.) Francesca's words in the letter to her children open the story. "I know it sounds awful but I couldn't wait for you all to leave. You were going to be gone until Friday. Four days--just four days." This is where the story begins, in the past. "THE BRIDGES OF MADISON COUNTY" is about these incredible life-changing four days of Francesca and Robert. The Father and children had left to enter a steer into a fair and Francesca stayed home. Not long after Francesca's family leaves, a photographer who is lost (Robert Kincaid played by Clint Eastwood) drives up to ask for directions to a covered bridge. She tries to tell him but they both get confused because the roads aren't marked. Of course if they would have been, this love story would have never have happened. The way their affair begins so innocently is part of what makes the story so compelling for me. Streep and Eastwood together are amazing; and their growing friendship and deep love that follows is magical. Both of their acting is flawless in my eyes as well as the music, script and cinematography. Eastwood is an impressive producer as well as director. It is such a wonderful story I could paraphrase the whole thing; but I won't. Just enjoy each moment of their 4 days together which go on forever in their hearts. I think the moral of "THE BRIDGES OF MADSION COUNTY" is to be grateful for every day of our lives. Life is a long-winding road full of joy and sorrow. We must survive the sorrow and truly cherish the joy while at the same time remembering that our decisions affect not only us but our loved ones as well. The ending is magnificient. As my wise Father told me once: "Live your life so that you'll have no regrets and try to accomplish that which will be best for everyone."
Rating:
Summary: Memories of friendships and love between two special people.
Review: Bridges of Madison County isn't just another "Love Story" that should be overlooked. The feelings that are portrayed in this movie, are very much real. I'm sure many of us have experience or even fantasied ourselves in movies, taking on the role of the character. Moving your self into the screen, imagining life, love, everything about the movie. Both Meryl Streep and Clint Eastwood were selected to become Francesca Johnson and Robert Kincaid. Personally, I couldn't imagine anyone else playing the roles! Clint Eastwood cultivated the role of Robert Kincaid. He proved to many that he had/has the ability to feel the authors character. Mr. Eastwood's talent shines in many roles through out his career. In BOMC, he reinforces the feelings of many through the eye of the camera, both on and off screen. Meryl Streep proving to women and men across the country that she has the serene beauty and talent to portray an Iowan Homemaker reaching within for inner feelings that she at the time, needed to experience. Ms Streep, has the natural aura of intensifying the character's she represents. Share the lives of Francesca Johnson and Robert Kincaid. A photographer lost in Iowa looking for the Roseman Bridge and the woman he asks directions from . . . which eventually changes both their lives forever.
Rating: 
Summary: An Average Romance
Review: Despite the convincing performances of both Clint Eastwood and Meryl Streep, this movie is too slow, long and repetitive for its own good. The plot is interesting, even if it doesn`t bring nothing new, making for an enticing enough relationship with some subtle moments. Problem is, it also drags in most of the scenes, and the constant overexposure of the lead actors becomes tiresome and unappealing. The settings could be more diverse too, since at times it seemed like I was watching a play and not a film. And although it never reaches corny melodrama, it gets too sappy at parts. Overall, not a bad movie, but not a masterpiece either. Far from a must-see, it still is worth watching once, though.
Rating:
Summary: I did NOT want to watch this movie
Review: After being told time and again that I should at least give this movie a chance, I finally caved. I am not, after all, a lover of romantic dramas, since I generally gravitate toward comedies. That said, I now own this movie. It is beautiful, touching and (as another reviewer stated) probably best watched alone. I cried like a child. Not because it was sad, but because it hit such a range of emotions that I generally try to avoid when settling in for a night of video-watching. The performances of both Clint and Meryl are perfection. I can't imagine anyone else portraying these characters. Anyone who has ever wondered about the "what if" factor of love and chemistry will appreciate the story.
With regard to some of the reviews I've read, I have to say that we tend to sometimes miss the point behind a story. Had the settings been "more diverse", I believe the intimacy of the story would have been compromised. The majority of the relationship between these touching characters did, after all, take place in a remote farmhouse. The Bridges and the County were merely the subtle backdrop. As for the film portraying adultery as being an act with "no consequence", I believe the film clearly shows that, regardless of the final decision, there is always consequence. This is shown both in the minor subplot of the local woman who is scorned by the townspeople and in the reading of the journal. In all, I found this movie very touching and definitely the perfect movie for viewing with a cold martini in front of a warm fire on a rainy night. Snuggle in and open yourself up to a great love story!
Rating:
Summary: Only certain types of people "get" this movie
Review: I too am a heterosexual man who loves this movie. I didn't see it for the first time until years after it left theaters. It never appealed to me before then. I thought "Oh my. A very old Clint Eastwood and tear jerking Meryl Streep are doing the film version of a very over publicized book." Ok, so it happend to be on cable one early morning and I came across it. I started watching the first 5 minutes and by the end I cried so many tears that I couldn't believe it... and I don't cry much at all. This movie is beautiful.. from the way it's shot, to the genuine and heartfelt performances of Clint and Streep. This movie blew me away. This movie is about love, hope, and sacrifice. Unbelievable. Ignore those who cast bad opinions of this flick. This movie is not for the lover of fast paced, action movies. They won't "get it." By the way, 'ol Dirty Harry's work with the musical score is sensational. Listen to "Doe Eyes" and tell me it doesn't fill you up!
Rating:
Summary: Best-selling novel turned into stellar movie
Review: The book, which was a little over the top in terms of pathos, was too much for lots of people. But there's hardly a person I've spoken to who didn't love the movie. Part of the success of the film, a huge part, was the choice of director and actors. Clint Eastwood directed it and costarred opposite Meryl Streep, who played Francesca, a lonely farm wife with a kind husband who doesn't realize what he's got till he's almost lost it.
Eastwood comes to town as a photographer from National Geographic to take pictures of the famous and not-so-famous old bridges in rural Iowa. While her husband and kids are at a county fair, Francesca and the photographer fall into a passionate affair of just a few days duration. Then comes the choice, the scene in which Streep's hand toys with the door handle during a rain as, through the swishing windshield wipers, she watches Eastwood's truck head out of town, turn signal blinking like a beacon calling to her. Stay or go? Stay or go? How will Francesca handle her conflicting loyalties, her passions, her life?
Keep a box of Kleenex handy.
Rating:
Summary: Francesca as a woman
Review: As a house wife in the middle of nowhere, Francesca was not surveyed by anybody, which made her just work hard for her family and farm. Her less self-consciousness can be easily explained why. She represents the stereotype of white country woman who is not treated as a woman but a mother, wife and a co-worker; however Robert Kincaid made her realize that she is a woman still. The middle-aged woman who is getting less objectified often becomes a theme of movies, and this movie is one of those. Francesca is not as objectified in this movie as the women in the other movies. She is more natural looking peaceful middle-aged woman; however, she seems to be unsatisfied with her normal life and hiding her passion under her quietude life but Robert easily reveals her original character.
This movie was a shocking because Robert reveals FrancescaÂfs passion. The stereotypical image of a country woman that is faithful to her family, and she never even thought about cheating on her husband. However, this movie collapses this stereotypical image of a country woman by Francesca cheats on her husband. Yet, we can see stereotypical conservative side of Francesca by knowing that she does not tell all about her story until she dies.
Rating:
Summary: Memories of friendships and love between two special people.
Review: Bridges of Madison County isn't just another "Love Story" that should be overlooked. The feelings that are portrayed in this movie, are very much real. I'm sure many of us have experience or even fantasied ourselves in movies, taking on the role of the character. Moving your self into the screen, imagining life, love, everything about the movie. Both Meryl Streep and Clint Eastwood were selected to become Francesca Johnson and Robert Kincaid. Personally, I couldn't imagine anyone else playing the roles! Clint Eastwood cultivated the role of Robert Kincaid. He proved to many that he had/has the ability to feel the authors character. Mr. Eastwood's talent shines in many roles through out his career. In BOMC, he reinforces the feelings of many through the eye of the camera, both on and off screen. Meryl Streep proving to women and men across the country that she has the serene beauty and talent to portray an Iowan Homemaker reaching within for inner feelings that she at the time, needed to experience. Ms Streep, has the natural aura of intensifying the character's she represents. Share the lives of Francesca Johnson and Robert Kincaid. A photographer lost in Iowa looking for the Roseman Bridge and the woman he asks directions from . . . which eventually changes both their lives forever.
Rating: 
Summary: (...) cheats on husband, justifies to her kids later
Review: I'd give 0 stars if I could. It was a fun movie to watch, tho. Streep and Eastwood are good, as always, even with a lame, foolish, and trite story. The story is just plain ridiculous. I'll take a guess that the author of the book, Waller, must've had some sort of fling of his own to base it on. Dressed up a sordid little affair and made a lot of money off it. Go James Waller. Francesca (Streep) is a bored and disappointed housewife. Doesn't seem like she does much to liven up her own life, tho, except to be unfaithful first chance she gets. While her faithful and rather good looking husband and their two children are at the county fair, Robert Kincaid (Eastwood) meets Francesca and they have a brief affair. The funny part is that anyone over 40 whose had any kind of a life knows that the "thing they have that few experience" is something that is as available as the air. This was a really seedy story. At the end, when Kincaid walks across the street in the pouring rain and gazes at Francesca who is in her truck waiting for her faithful husband to return, well, if I had been in her place, I would've rolled up the window. I couldn't help but think, as quick as Kincaid was to get into Francesca's-- life -- so to speak, he must be pretty easy in other places and with other women and if I was in Francesca's shoes, I'd have been worried that I may have contracted a little "bug" that I could pass on to my husband. Wow. Wouldn't that make this lovely romance nice? The two children when they grow up and read their mother's diaries that spill the beans seem like a couple of pretty naive jerks. The settings were pretty, and the farm house was decorated very 1960's. Streep looks pretty but Eastwood's neck was pretty wrinkly in the kissing scenes. Well, we all get old! At least Clint Eastwood hasn't had a face lift. But to subject us to that, no thanks. I wouldn't buy this dvd, just watch the movie on t.v.
Rating:
Summary: Where's the Widescreen?
Review: I saw it on TV, wanted to own the DVD, but in this day of all TV sets eventually going to 1.85:1 imagine these numskulls issuing the movie in 4:3 only. I will not buy any more 4:3.
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