Jessica Lange has excelled so often playing whacked-out characters like Carly Marshall here and Frances Farmer in Frances that you might think all she can do is rage uncontrollably on camera. Not so. If you watch Lange closely, you will see that everything she does is carefully measured – the quiet moments and the loud ones. She’s a pleasure to watch every time out, and Blue Sky is no exception.
Tommy Lee Jones is also a treat, although his performances are usually far lower-key and there are few films in which he’s shown Lange’s range. But he’s among the best at playing solid, decent characters whose perpetually sad face and expressive eyes tell as much as his words. More than one second-rate movie (Rules of Engagement and Double Jeopardy, for example) has been more worthwhile thanks to his presence.
In Blue Sky, Jones plays Hank Marshall, Carly’s husband. He’s a straight-arrow army scientist studying the radiation effects of nuclear tests – it’s the 1950s and tests are still being conducted above ground – while also doing his best to manage Carly, a free spirit who regularly verges on mental unbalance.
The film focuses on Hank trying to hold his family together while also dealing with tough issues on the job – his opposition to above-ground nuclear weapons tests and his outrage at a test that harms two Nevada cowboys who ride into the test area just as the bomb is about to be detonated. The two storylines come together as Carly becomes romantically entangled with Hank’s superior officer just as Hank’s weapons-related concerns escalate. After a confrontation with his boss, Hank finds himself shuffled off to a mental hospital, and now it’s up to Carly to rescue him for a change.
Blue Sky works as a portrait of contrasting lovers who survive because of – and also in spite of – their differences. It’s not as successful as a story of military intrigue and machinations. The relationship element works because the characters in the Marshall family are well drawn and performed even better. Carly regularly goes off the deep end, and it’s consistently believable when she does. Same goes for Hank’s reaction. That’s his main role in the relationship – reacting to Carly’s erratic behaviour and trying to repair the damage.
The intrigue is less successful because it isn’t nearly as believable. Even in the 1950s, a psychiatrist likely wouldn’t sedate Hank – a new, and rational, patient – without first talking to him (which would have led to a finding that Hank wasn’t in need of hospitalization at all, let alone sedation). Even more outlandish is the way Carly’s rescue efforts succeed. It doesn’t make sense that the military would be able to shut up the credible Hank, but be brought to their knees by the flaky Carly.
While the storyline is questionable and the ending is a far-too-easy cop-out, there’s still enough here to make Blue Sky worthwhile. The film is rescued by Lange, Jones and a compelling story about a family that survives.
