User reviews

On the IMDb message board of The Sweet Hereafter, a writer asked users what was the most bone chilling moment in a film. I mentioned the little seen, small town drama Independence Day (a.k.a.: Follow Your Dreams, and not to be confused with the 1996 sci-fi blockbuster). Although Kathleen Quinlan and David Keith were the leads, I thought their somewhat interesting but not very compelling small-town romance was overshadowed by a subplot that could have been a main story in another movie.

As Keith's suicidal and physically-abused sister, Dianne Wiest gave a heartbreaking performance. The dramatic decision she makes that directly affects her abusive husband (Cliff DeYoung, who also does a great job with his despicable character) and indirectly affects the lead characters, definitely chilled my bones.

Weist's performance here was three years before her first of three supporting Oscar nominations, with 2 wins for Hannah and Her Sisters and Bullets Over Broadway.

Although I had mixed feelings for Independence Day, I would recommend checking out the movie for Dianne Wiest's outstanding supporting performance.

This, I suppose, largely forgotten movie just aired on Swedish late-night television. I don't expect many people saw it. I only happened upon it myself. But it managed to catch my interest.

It is a small, unassuming movie. Nothing remarkable, but well-acted and warm at heart. It paints a believable picture of small-town life, not just in America, but in most of the Western world. As I watched it I realized that it could very easily be adapted to Swedish conditions. You would really only need to change the names, and let it take place in the cold north of Sweden, with Stockholm the glowing city in the sun. The same longing for something more, and the same fear of the unknown exists right here. I guess it's universal.

Anyway, the movie is well worth watching. It is far better than its recent over-hyped and under-acted namesake.

Carefully-considered character piece, a solid drama and a genuine sleeper, has a would-be auto racer returning to his small hometown in Texas after his dreams have hit a dead-end; he meets up with a girl his knew back in high school, a waitress and shutterbug who still lives with her parents and has aspirations to go to an art school in Los Angeles. Subplot with the young man's suicidal sister, trapped in a bad marriage to an abusive lout, nearly takes precedence over the main story, though all the performances are equally strong. Kathleen Quinlan is the sassy, headstrong photographer who makes firm statements about herself and her future--and then second guesses her own words and instincts (the contrivance with Quinlan waiting for the school's letter of invitation to come in the mail can be overlooked). As her new beau, David Keith is still being used as a substitute for Kurt Russell, yet his character's quiet strength (and his slow-building frustration and anger) shows him off to a fine advantage here. As the alternate couple, Dianne Wiest is a wonderful "born victim" who turns the tables, but Cliff De Young--while completely convincing as Wiest's repugnant husband--fails to come up with anything fresh (he's the eternal substitute for Dabney Coleman). Barely released by Warner Bros. in 1983, the film attained a small cult on cable and video, and it's a worthwhile film for fans of human drama. **1/2 from ****

This movie is pretty darn good. Quinlan does a good job as a woman who grows up in a small town and has big dreams of moving to a big town. The true break-out performances, though, go to Diane Weist and Cliff De Young as the abused wife and abuser. Wait 'till you see how she gets him back! Good movie, watch it when you get a chance.

...with her performance as Cliff De Young's battered wife. When I saw it in the Greenwood Theater in North Seattle the whole audience cheered and clapped when David Keith hauled De Young out of the bar and beat the crap out of him for hitting his sister (Weist) - Weist had grabbed the audience so effectively. The only "Independence Day" anybody remembers today is the flying saucer movie, so this film is nearly forgotten - a tragedy.

Independence Day unflinchingly looks at lifechoices, and their effects on both those that make them and the people that care about them. The cast is excellent, especially Dianne Wiest at Nancy. I saw this film the year it was released at the Seattle Film Festival and was caught offguard at the depth of emotion portrayed here. A great film that deserves some type of revival, as it provides a message that few would find argument with. Please see this film.

I saw this movie probably 20 years ago and believe you me, I have never forgotten it. This is a very intense and compelling drama that contains some very serious subject matter, that being spousal abuse of the worst kind. The abused character,(Diane Weist)depicts the sorrowful circumstances of a woman caught-up in a really bad marriage and the way she exacts her revenge is the spellbinding climax of the movie. Having firsthand knowledge of this subject matter I found the movie to be one of the first to depict one of the many ways an abused woman does in the end truly claim independence. I'm very sorry to say that I don't really remember the details of the other characters' story line, but I surely remembered Diane Weist's character. I would certainly enjoy seeing it again.

I read somewhere that you can get this movie on VHS on EBay but I can't find it. Does anyone know where I can get it? It's an excellent movie. Truly excellent

I only saw it once in 1983 and have never forgotten it. My daughter thinks I'm making too much of it but I really want to get this movie and have her watch it. After all these years I remember Dianne Weists, the abused wife, as she gave a great performance. Also the movie shows how abuse is so often hidden or ignored by relatives and other people. Watch this movie if you should get the chance and you like good drama movies.

I loved this movie, and I don't say that about a lot of movies. As someone else has noted, it's a shame that when people see the title "Independence Day" they will immediately think to the flying saucer/alien movie. This is not that film. A wonderful story, and truly wonderful performances by Kathleen Quinlin, David Keith and some great character actors: Josef Sommer as the dad, Frances Sternhagen as Quinlin's mom and Dianne Wiest as David Keith's sister. Quietly touches on universal themes of the importance of family and following your dreams, and most harrowing, on domestic violence. I just got on ebay to see if this film was available on DVD and had to wade through screens of the alien title to find that alas, it is not. Only on VHS. What a shame.

This movie was one I watched a long time ago; never the less, I remembered it when i stumbled across it in IMDb. This was a powerful movie for me! It struck a cord in me, and and I have never forgotten it. I was probably only 15 or 16 when I watched it, but it left an impression on me. Boys don't hit girls, EVER! or else.... The fact that I took a great lesson away from the film as a young man and swore that I would never be like that to my wife, is further evidence of the power of this film. Show it to your teenage kids. I don't want to give away the plot of the movie, but a really cruel man torments a woman, beyond her ability to deal with him. The results is explosive. If you have ever heard the song Independence Day you will have a good idea of the way this movie ends up.

Some may think that this is a predictable boy drives hot rod, borrows money from brother-in-law who is abusing his wife and all hell breaks loose, but it is more than that. The film depicts the small town life of Anson and Hamlin, Texas in the early 1980's. Anson is the town that banned dancing and some say "Footloose" was based on. That fact does not enter into the movie, but is a shading on the tone of the town.

The characters are strong and the performance by Weist is unforgettable. This was filmed before "Hannah" and when she was younger and thin. You will love looking at Quinnlin as well. Not all of the characters are cartoon renditions of small town stereotypes, so you will enjoy it.

This movie looks at personal choices we make in our life. The choice can be to take a different direction or do nothing different. The consequences of decision made can be remarkable and this film reveals the personal emotions and feelings we can all relate to in our daily lives. The cast is excellent portrayed especially Diane Wieste as the abused wife. If we would take the lessons that can be learned in this film, we would all be better off. When you reach in life situations were you must make a decision, make one and don't just stay your present course. Changes in life can be well received. And better to have taken a chance then to take non.

Independence Day takes place in a small southern town where a waitress/aspiring photographer dreams of getting out and moving to L.A. to be like one of her photographer idols. Her departure is made complicated when she falls for your typical small town boy and her mother gets cancer.

For most of the film, Independence Day plays like your average "this small town is suffocating me and I have to get out" movie. No matter how good Kathleen Quinlan and David Keith are, they can't stop the film and their characters from feeling a bit been there, done that. It doesn't help that the first 20/30 minutes of the film are a bit on the sluggish side and it takes a while to warm up to the story and characters.

Then Dianne Wiest enters and something magical happens. It's the classic case of a supporting character and subplot stealing the entire show and becoming the main thing you remember about the film. Wiest plays Keith's mentally unstable sister who's in an abusive relationship with her husband (a truly scummy Cliff De Young.) It's Wiest's story that ends with the most surprising and heartbreaking turn of events and it's the one element you'll probably remember after the film is over.

I'd hate to make it sound like the rest of Independence Day is a slog of some sort, because it's not. It's well written and acted and there are several moving aspects of the main story as well (Quinlan's scene with Frances Sternhaggen as her mother where she's torn between going to L.A. or taking care of her is a winner), but the Wiest subplot is far more engrossing than the romance between Quinlan and Keith.

I have yet to hear of anybody who saw this movie and gave it a bad rating. I saw it almost twenty years ago and have never forgotten it. It is sad though that I only saw it on HBO once. While I get angry with HBO for showing these boring films over and over, I would always wish that they give this movie the resurrection that it deserves. Sad too is the fact that when you Google "Independence Day" all that is shown is that movie about aliens. This movie, on the other hand is about real people. They could be your neighbors. A good story. And very well-acted. Diane Weist is at her most memorable.

This is one of those films that will haunt you for the rest of your life. And it will be in your list of the best movies ever, surely. I have never seen a more unassuming movie. And I have yet to see a more appropriate ending.

Go watch it. It will be time well spent.

I will always remember this movie........I will always remember Diane Weitz as a great actress........I have been searching over the years for this movie because Martina McBride came out with the song Independence Day and I know from my heart that it was based on this movie.......But to ask anyone that, I know they will tell you that the only one movie called Independence Day was solely about aliens.......Can anyone out there confirm that Martina's song is based on this movie......at least now I know that I can prove that there was such a movie........

I got tired of waiting on the streaming services to offer THIS Independence Day, so I went old school with a DVD. I probably first saw this 35 or so years ago on HBO. My memory of the quality of this film was fully intact. It's about the whole spectrum of real life: love, dreams, family, misery and abuse. The powers that drive our entertainment choices today mainly focus on sci-fi, goofball comedies, fantasy and animation. This is the kind of drama I find most appealing. I'll freely admit being biased about Independence Day. It solidified my now 40 year crush on Kathleen Quinlan. Her character typifies what I always hoped to find, but never did.

David Keith's best performance along with "The Lords of Discipline"!!

I just saw this movie a few days ago. Even though it was made 20 years ago, I thought it was one of the best movies! Although Kathleen Quinlan was the main character, Dianne Wiest stole the spot light. Not only was she remarkable and outstanding, she was awesome with a capitol A. Quinlan plays a photographer who wants to get into the best Arts school and lives(even though she's about 30 years old) with her sick mother and her hard working father. She soon falls for race car

driver, Dave Kieth. They fall in love with each other until things begin happening in Kieth's family. His sister, Wiest, is constantly getting beaten and threatened by her abusive and womanizing husband. He beats her so much that Kieth can't take it and beats up her husband. What until you see what happens when things take a worse turn once the husband wants to get back at his wife and her brother. The ending had me shocked!! I know you will be too!! Loved it!! It was a great one!! 10 stars!!

My review was written in January 1983 after a showing at a Midtown Manhattan screening room.

"Independence Day" is an unpleasant dramatic study of young people in a small southwestern town facing family problems and the perennial career decision: to stay home or trek to the big city. Despite some yeoman acting by a talented cast of character actors, the predictable and contrived storyline of the Daniel Blatt-Robert Singer production proves intractable, spelling a most difficult task for Warner Bros. To find an audience for this pic.

Alice Hoffman's unfocused screenplay centers upon two people in their 20's: Mary Ann Taylor (Kathleen Quinlan), a waitress in her dad's diner in the tiny southwestern town of Mercury and Jack Parker (David Keith), a gas station mechanic just returned home after an unsuccessful stay at engineering school.

While the duo's romance blossoms, Parker is coping with his suicidal sister Nancy (Dianne Wiest), her philandering, wife-beating husband Les (Cliff DeYoung) and his own brutish father (Noble Willingham). He is also prepping his high-performance Camaro for the annual Fourth of July race in nearby Bearsville, while Mary Ann tends to her cancer-stricken mom (Frances Sternhagen) and holds out hopes of being accepted at a California art school to pursue a career in photography.

The film's accelerating revelations of "all is not well" below the placid surface of middle America echo modern gothic horror films, but the realistic depiction of mental illness and domestic violence here is jarring with the pastoral overall romance of the story. While the material probably wouldn't have worked as an expose, it is manifestly unpleasant in the matter of fact, non-fantastic mode adopted. Latter half of the picture is packed with incredible contrivances and even a silly deus ex machina in the form of Bert Remsen popping in as the heroine's photography idol, visiting town to announce that she's won a full scholarship to study with him.

Director Robert Mandel, making the big jump from his fine 1980 AFI short "Nights at O'Rears" to a major feature, again demonstrates winning ways with actors and small-town atmospherics, but cannot make the disparate personal problems presented here either compelling or entirely credible.

Film's commercial chances rest upon critics (and public) responding to some solid performances. Keith reinforces his image as a likable and forceful young performer while Quinlan demonstrates the ambivalence of love versus a career quite skillfully. She is upstage (the script's fault) by Dianne Wiest in an extraordinary rendering of the submissive, battered wife who can find no solution to her domestic hell. Supporting cast is uniformly effective within the strained situations of this story.

Technical credits are fine, with the country music scoe highlighted by a pleasant wraparound theme song "Follow Your Dreams" by Jim Messina.