Welcome to an exciting year-long project here at The Nerdy. 1985 was an exciting year for films giving us a lot of films that would go on to be beloved favorites and cult classics. It was also the start to a major shift in cultural and societal norms, and some of those still reverberate to this day.
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We’re going to pick and choose which movies we hit, but right now the list stands at nearly four dozen.
Yes, we’re insane, but 1985 was that great of a year for film.
The articles will come out – in most cases – on the same day the films hit theaters in 1985 so that it is their true 40th anniversary. All films are also watched again for the purposes of these reviews and are not being done from memory. In some cases, it truly will be the first time we’ve seen them.
This time around, it’s Dec. 27, 1985, and we’re off to see Murphy’s Romance, Revolution, and The Trip to Bountiful.
Murphy’s Romance
It should be illegal for people to have this much chemistry.
Emma Moriarty (Sally Field) moves to a small Arizona town with her son to try to make a living by training and boarding horses. There she meets Murphy Jones (James Garner), the town’s lone pharmacist. Despite a massive age difference, the two find themselves drawn closer and closer to one another, even though they’re the seemingly last two people to realize it.
Field and Gerner have an undeniable chemistry in this film. They play off one another so naturally. The script, while not perfect, also shows a lot of restraint in how it plays out the budding romance, seeming to know when exactly to hit the accelerator and slow down once again to let everyone settle into their shifting rhythms.
Well acted and endlessly charming.
Revolution
I can not imagine a less fun way to experience the Revolutionary War.
Fur Trader Tom Dobb (Al Pacino) finds himself thrust into the Revolutionary War when his boat is conscripted into the war, and his son accidentally joins the army. What follows is several years of following Tom and his son throughout the war while also occasionally running into Daisy McConnahay (Nastassja Kinski), the idealistic daughter of a wealthy merchant. Though their encounters are brief, Daisy and Tom find themselves falling for one another.
Revolution is one of those films that claims its run time is 2 hours and 4 minutes, but around hour 18, I wondered when my misery would end. The film is excruciatingly boring and filled with numerous scenes that go absolutely nowhere and serve no purpose.
And how anyone thought Pacino and Kinski were right for these roles is beyond me.
An incredibly easy one to say you can pass on.
The Trip to Bountiful
It only seems fitting that I close out the year with a film that is all about connecting with your past.
Carrie Watts (Geraldine Page) has lived with her son and his wife for 15 years, and she is desperate to visit her childhood home in Bountiful. She finally sneaks out one day and makes her way to a town only a few miles away when her son finally has the sheriff catch up with her to bring her back home. She finally is able to talk the sheriff into taking her to the town so she can see what she presumes is the last time.
Based on a play of the same name, it’s a touching story that allows Page to shine, which led to her winning an Academy Award. It’s a sweet, quiet character study that’s worth a watch, but make sure to keep your expectations in line with a quiet film about someone enjoying the final days of their life.
1986 Movie Reviews will debut on Jan. 3, 2026, with Head Office.
