Movie Analysis: The Milagro Beanfield War

In the movie The Milagro Beanfield War, a large construction project is going on in the small town of Milagro, NM. Despite a rule made so that the locals could not water their crops, after accidentally opening a way for the water to flow onto his land Joe Mondragon decides to break the rules and grow a beanfield. As the movie progresses, people begin to take sides, some wanting the work the construction site would bring, others wanting to stick to the traditional way things had always been. The beanfield continues to be part of that controversy, along with being a thorn in the side of Devine Corporations, the ones doing the construction. Eventually, confusion leads to the oldest man in the town, Amarante Cordova, being shot by Joe. This puts

The story itself was quite interesting. The characters are believable and some had obvious arcs, the plot seems well paced, and most plot points are memorable. The dialogue didn’t seem forced, and flowed fairly realistically. The conflict, Devine Corporations vs the Beanfield (well, really, it’s owner but…), ended well, with Devine not being able to do anything about it, not for a lack of trying. Overall, the story was fairly interesting. The oldest man in their town’s whole story was, in particular, quite interesting. I’m still wondering about a few things, specifically to do with the illusion/ghost/whatever the old guy kept speaking with. That whole plot point both confuses and intrigues me. The only problem I have with the story is the student who came to work on a thesis paper. His whole character and insert into the story just seemed forced. He truly wasn't

Overall, the actors chosen to play each role were well picked. All of them portrayed the role they were supposed to very well. In particular, I think the best two were Ruby Archuleta and Ladd Devine. Ruby is a strong character in general, with obvious weaknesses, like her stubbornness in what may not have been the best times to be stubborn, making her well rounded. Ladd Devine is a good ‘villain’. He both acts like he’s trying to improve things, and also clearly shows he really wants money. Along with that, by the end you can clearly see how much of a coward his character truly is. Both the actors did very good jobs making these characters memorable and interesting. As for location/setting, a small town in New Mexico and the surrounding areas, it really let you see the way these people had been living and wanted to continue living. The town was rundown enough to emphasize poverty but not enough to overdo it like some movies do. The surrounding area emphasized why the water was such a big deal there, being so obviously dry and ‘uninhabitable’. Overall, both the characters and location were well