I love this movie. But then, I love John, and what he has done in New Mexico. Years ago I told him my favorite book of his was "American Blood," that raw and violent story of a war, a veteran and the aftermath. We settled on "The Magic Journey," part of what we now know as the NM Trilogy and a story I think comes the closest to the heart of his New Mexican world. Even and uneven, he has told great stories and someday, when his trunk of manuscripts is opened, we will hear the rest of what he has to say. Until then, this film is as good as it gets. Unless, of course, you get to run in to John, because he is a great story teller with a big heart. This film has been well and lovingly made and in part, for me, makes up for the time I have been away from New Mexico.
2 Reviews
Splendid engaging portrait of a rebel novelist
blakeblue232314 January 2015
John Nichols is best known for his novel 'The Milagro Bean Field War' and the Robert Redford movie made of it in the late 1980s. It's an excellent novel but 'The Magic Journey' - second installment in his 'New Mexico trilogy' - is for me one of the ten best American novels of the last century. His novel 'American Blood' comes close enough, and there are others. Nichols is unjustly off the media radar these days but this wonderful documentary shows you what you are missing. You could not pick better company than Nichols for the hour and a half that this biographical treatment of an immensely talented WASP rebel runs. If you have always appreciated his novels and ecological nonfiction, you will be delighted with this film. if you were unaware of Nichols, you will run out and grab his novels. Kudos to the filmmakers.
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