Hard Promises (1992)

Editor's Note Good ol' boy Joey is a free-roaming soul with an urge to travel just about anywhere except home. So imagine his surprise when he's invited to his own wife's wedding. He rushes home to find himself newly divorced, fighting to win back the wife he stills wants and becoming a belated father to his headstrong daughter.

	Brian Kerwin
	Mare Winningham
	Sissy Spacek
	William Petersen
	Andrzej Bartkowiak - Cinematographer
	Bonnie Koehler - Editor
	Dan Leigh - Production Designer
	George S. Clinton, et. al. - Original Music By
	Jule Selbo - Writer
	Martin Davidson - Director
	William L. Petersen, et. al. - Producer

Christine divorced her first husband after he abandoned her and their daughter Beth. But since the divorce -- which she filed without her husband's consent -- Chris has fallen in love with Walt Humphrey, a stable, loving, family man. When her ex-husband, Joey, discovers his wife is about to remarry, he returns to his family hoping to stop the wedding and win her back. Los Angeles Times
"...[Featuring] a warm and believable performance by the invariably underrated Spacek..." 01/31/1992 p.F6

Rolling Stone 4 of 10
Writer Jule Selbo -- not surprisingly from TV (Life Goes On) -- and director Martin Davidson, who's behind such tripe as Heart of Dixie and Hero at Large, smooth out those pesky rough edges and anything else that's remotely interesting. Petersen tries so hard for charm he kills any chance to achieve it. The movie is too bloodless to provoke scorn; it's simply a forgettable mediocrity. - Peter Travers

Chicago Sun-Times 3 of 10
Hard Promises was made in the spirit of a brainless sitcom, but if you stand back from the movie and really look at it, you're struck by how weird all of the characters are. The movie struggles to be about love and freedom and caring, but in fact it's about seriously dysfunctional people living on the edge of madness. The film's chatty small-town setting only underlines its oddity. - Roger Ebert