THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, January 13, 1996 TAG: 9601120055
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MAL VINCENT, ENTERTAINMENT WRITER
LENGTH: Long : 119 lines
EVEN SWEET Sally Field has yielded to the tensions of the modern world, where crime is the national plague and justice isn't always served. In her new film, ``Eye for an Eye,'' Sally gets her gun.
The two-time Oscar winner plays a career-minded mom who takes measures into her own hands when the killer of her teenage daughter goes free on a technicality.
``I never even held a gun in my hand before making this film,'' Field said, sitting for an interview at Beverly Hills' Four Seasons Hotel. ``I trained with the police in Culver City to prepare for the part, but, let me say, I don't like guns.
``I don't find holding one in my hand empowering. I find it tragic.''
But couldn't ``Eye for an Eye'' be accused of being socially irresponsible? After all, it's another vigilante story that feeds upon the public's fear of America at night - just like a Charles Bronson movie.
Field blanches at the idea.
``The Charles Bronson character went on killing and killing,'' she said. ``My character grew into a frenzy, only reluctantly. This is the story of one individual and what happens to her when violence comes into her life. The journey she takes is very tragic. . . . This is not a vigilante movie. It's not a PC study of a woman being empowered. It's a story of how an individual woman changes.''
The actress gets worked up at the idea that she might be part of an industry that sells violence.
``Don't say that Hollywood glorifies the gun! It isn't Hollywood,'' Field said. ``How about the country itself? This country has always been in love with guns.
``. . . And it's all over the world now. People are afraid. The balance between crime and punishment seems to have been upset.
``Politically, I suppose I'm a liberal. I basically think the death penalty is wrong because society should elevate itself above the criminals.''
Casting the likable Field, though, as Karen McCann seems to go against type. But Oscar-winning director John Schlesinger (``Midnight Cowboy'') said Field was right for the role.
``It wouldn't have been as powerful with anyone other than Sally,'' he said. ``I knew that Sally had the emotional range, in spades. We needed the change that this woman went through.''
The feeling was mutual.
``He's one of the most brilliant directors in movie history, and he's the main reason I took this job,'' Field said.
``I start out as this quiet, likable woman and I end up a vengeful harridan. I try to leave the role at the studio when I go home, but that isn't easy, or even beneficial. It's too difficult to find her again the next day.''
Even though she was in two of the biggest hits in recent years - as Robin Williams' estranged wife in ``Mrs. Doubtfire'' and Tom Hanks' mother in ``Forrest Gump'' - it is generally perceived that Field's career is in trouble.
Neither were starring vehicles, per se, and both were surprise hits.
``For me, they were kind of guest shots - an adventure,'' she said, laughing. ``Someone has GOT to tell Tom to stop calling me `Mama' in public.''
It was widely anticipated that she would get a supporting actress nomination for ``Forrest Gump.'' It didn't happen.
On the personal side, her marriage has broken up, leaving her to run Fogwood Films.
``I don't keep regular office hours,'' said Field, 49. ``The company is looking for good scripts in general, not just projects in which I would act. At the moment, we're in the process of changing studios.''
Field was born in Pasadena, Calif., into a show business family. Her mother was Margaret Field, later billed as Maggie Mahoney in B pictures of the '40s and '50s. Her stepfather was actor Jock Mahoney.
She was enrolled in acting classes at Columbia Pictures when she was selected from 150 finalists to star in the TV series ``Gidget.'' She went on to star in ``The Flying Nun'' and ``The Girl With Something Extra.'' The lightweight image was not easy to shake, but Field did it in 1977, winning an Emmy as a woman fragmented into 16 personalities in ``Sybil.''
As for possessing the necessary toughness for ``Eye for an Eye'': ``I'm not going to come raging in here for an interview,'' she said, ``but you can believe I'm not a puff cake. Did you see `Norma Rae'? That woman was no pushover. I have all the qualities necessary for Karen McCann.''
Questions have been raised about whether the film is capitalizing on public frustration with the judicial system in the wake of the O.J. Simpson verdict. ``Eye for an Eye'' includes a shot of the trial on TV.
``Yes, the subject is potentially controversial, but I've made controversial films before,'' she said. `` `Absence of Malice' was about questions of irresponsibility by the press. But both these films are just arenas for thought. We were in production during the O.J. trial. It seemed natural to have the television tuned to that channel in the background.
``I didn't make this movie to present some big issue to society. You leave the bigger issues at home when you leave for the studio each day. I don't judge a character. I play her.''
Getting into character, though, didn't extend to hating Kiefer Sutherland, who plays the arrogant rapist-murderer.
``Kiefer is such a darling, such a puppy dog,'' she said. ``We were always joking about the two of us running off together at the end of the movie. Now THAT would have been an unexpected plot twist.''
Field said she isn't sure how she would handle the situation in real life. Her children are 26, 23 and 8.
``I can have my public feelings, but if someone, anyone, touches or hurts my children, it would be totally different,'' she said.
``I could never, at any age, stop worrying about my children. I've learned that you don't just let yourself go and say, ``Well, I did that. I raised them' when they go off to college. You continue to worry about them.'' MEMO: Movie review appears on page E2.
ILLUSTRATION: Color photos from Paramount Pictures
Sally Field learns to use a gun...
Kiefer Sutherland...
Police try to calm Field...
Photo by PHILLIP CARUSO, Paramount Pictures
Sally Field is proud to have played Forrest Gump's mom.
by CNB