Robert Redford's direction on this film earned him lots of critical acclaim, but I don't quite see why. (He is a fine director, but it wasn't until 1994's Quiz Show that showed this.) True, the movie creates some interesting characters and evokes some complex emotions -- its ending is unforgettably bittersweet -- but one can't help feeling that the film is gratuitously and manipulatively overdramatic at times. It's not bad, just not something to rave about.