A classic you needn't be afraid to try if you're not a film school graduate

Rating: 8/10 (8 February 2010)

Plenty of people write reviews for film reviewers. So if you're a film reviewer, just check out what Roger Ebert wrote and you're set.
What about us regular guys? I like intellectual dramas, but not if they're melodramatic, and a film about an event they name after "Depression" I was sure was going to be too weepy. This is why I still haven't seen Schindler's List. I just haven't had a free week where I can afford to cry all the time.
Also, a lot of "classics" are pretty boring, not from an film school perspective, but from a regular guy perspective. So I'm glad to say that The Grapes of Wrath is a winner. It starts with a lot of whining about land, which as I've moved several times in my life I didn't quite get, but when it ratchets up into labor camps and competitive gangs fighting for jobs, holey smokes.
It's true that the film is preachy. But it's also a true story, and good one. The point of the film isn't so much the plot as the settings that the family is thrust into. And it's wonderfully moving. Similar to Across the Universe, you get a glimpse into all aspects of life in that period.
I recommend it as a classic that's not too erudite or aging. I'll give The Grapes of Wrath an 8 out of 10, sort of a bonus 7 out of 10 for being a true story.