Anyone who has ever watched a snippet of almost any "Masterpiece Theatre" is going to be greatly underwhelmed by Sally Field's heavily promoted "A Woman of Independent Means," which begins at 9 tomorrow night on WBAL (Channel 11).
The six-hour NBC miniseries, which continues Monday and Wednesday, is long on hours but is short in just about every other department.
Field stars as Bess Steed Garner, the woman of independent means in this film, which is based on Elizabeth Forsythe Hailey's popular novel of the same title about a woman's life in Dallas from the turn of the century to the early 1960s. Field is also executive producer, which is where problems begin.
A two-time Oscar-winner, Field is a fine actress. But as a producer, she has turned this into a self-indulgent vanity production. Field sets a new miniseries record for being in almost every frame. No attention is given to others -- either in the writing of their roles or the casting of their parts. We get Sally for breakfast, lunch and dinner, and it's just a wee bit wearing -- if not downright boring.
Brenda Fricker, a wonderful actress who won an Oscar as the mother in "My Left Foot," is in the film as Garner's mother-in-law. But her role is strictly limited to one of shooting disapproving glances at her brave, spunky, bright, progressive, almost-absolutely-fabulous daughter-in-law.
Ron Silver, another talented actor, plays a suitor. The character, a Jewish businessman who helps Garner increase her fortune, begs to be explored. But he's never allowed to go beyond the look of complete adoration toward Garner that's required in virtually all his scenes. He remains as much a mystery as everyone else in the cast.
There are other problems with "A Woman of Independent Means." One is that executive producer Field shot it on the cheap. Outside of star Field's wardrobe and a few classic cars dragged into camera range, there is no period feel. There is no feel for any era -- World War I, the Roaring Twenties, the stock market crash, the Great Depression, take your pick. They're all missing.
It's a saga shot without any long shots or pans. It feels like it was shot with two characters -- Garner and whoever happens to be playing second-fiddle to her at the time -- in costume against a lake or a backdrop of trees. If you are foolhardy enough to watch all six hours, you'll see more picnic-by-the-lake scenes than you ever thought possible.
The lack of detail, mood and ambiance is especially damning in a film that attempts to chronicle the life of a wife and mother before the women's movement. Garner's world is primarily the domestic sphere. Because she didn't go to war or run for Congress, there are no big scenes of panoramic action or conflict. But it is so lacking in detail, we don't even know if Garner gave birth at home.
There is one poignant moment, one memorable scene. It arrives about halfway through Monday night's installment, when Garner accompanies the body of her young son back to Dallas. The tableau of Garner sitting with the coffin in the baggage compartment of the train is one you will remember.
But this miniseries should be filled with such moments of the heart, and it isn't.
One last criticism. By my count, there were only two persons of color in the entire six hours of this miniseries, and one of them was a maid. There are no other blacks or Hispanics on the streets of Dallas or St. Louis, New York City or Boston. The miniseries seems to have been drained of all color.
In the end, that's how this lightweight miniseries feels -- pale, slight, superficial, bland. In a February that has seen such standout dramatic productions as "The Piano Lesson" and "Serving in Silence," "A Woman of Independent Means" is the event program that wasn't.