{"id":2608476,"date":"2026-05-30T05:46:02","date_gmt":"2026-05-30T09:46:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/sally-field-you-deserve-better-than-this-sally-field-bonds-with-octopus-in-remarkably-bright-creatures\/"},"modified":"2026-05-30T05:55:04","modified_gmt":"2026-05-30T09:55:04","slug":"sally-field-you-deserve-better-than-this-sally-field-bonds-with-octopus-in-remarkably-bright-creatures","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/sally-field-you-deserve-better-than-this-sally-field-bonds-with-octopus-in-remarkably-bright-creatures\/","title":{"rendered":"Sally Field, you deserve better than this Sally Field bonds with octopus in &#8216;Remarkably Bright Creatures&#8217;"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">32<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fsally-field-you-deserve-better-than-this-sally-field-bonds-with-octopus-in-remarkably-bright-creatures%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2608476&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Sally Field is praised for a long career marked by charm, spunk, and an ability to add sincerity to roles-ranging from lighter early parts opposite major leading men to more serious, Oscar-winning performances in *Norma Rae* and *Places in the Heart*, and later credible \u201cseasoned\u201d character work such as in *Lincoln* and *The Amazing Spider-Man*.  <\/p>\n<p>The essay then pivots to Field\u2019s newest film, Netflix\u2019s *Remarkably Radiant Creatures*, arguing that it drags her into a regrettable phase where she plays second fiddle to an clever, self-aware aquarium octopus (Marcellus) trained to deliver sentimental, over-enunciated dialog. The reviewer claims the setup is implausible-field\u2019s character doesn\u2019t feel like an elderly woman who should land in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/2-staff-members-killed-at-md-senior-living-facility-suspect-in-custody\/\" title=\"2 staff members killed at Md. senior living facility, suspect in custody\">senior housing<\/a>, and many plot motivations are driven by convenience rather than believable choices.  <\/p>\n<p>The piece also criticizes the surrounding human cast and writing, describing Lewis Pullman\u2019s performance as lacking charisma, Colm Meaney\u2019s role as a stereotypical source of nonstop perks, and Alfred Molina\u2019s dialogue as subpar and Shakespearean-in-name-only. Ultimately, the film\u2019s central \u201cpoint,\u201d the reviewer says, is forced and overly sentimental intergenerational bonding elaborate by <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >soap-opera-level coincidences-leading<\/a> to the conclusion that Field is likeable but should avoid sharing the screen wiht sea creatures again.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<article class=\"fn-body\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Just the other day, I was thinking about how much I have enjoyed Sally Field\u2019s performances through the years.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I was charmed by her <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/americas-ngad-fighter-may-actually-be-like-nothing-you-can-imagine\/\" title=\"America\u2019s NGAD Fighter May Actually Be Like Nothing You Can Imagine\">earliest parts<\/a>: her winsome performances opposite leading men Jeff Bridges (<em>Stay Hungry<\/em>) and Burt Reynolds (<em>Smokey and the Bandit<\/em>, its first sequel, and its assorted copycats). Then, without losing her spunk and spirit, Field demonstrated that she had sufficient reserves of seriousness to play a purposeful <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/unions\/\" type=\"post_tag\" id=\"2070\">union<\/a> advocate (<em>Norma Rae<\/em>) and, most touchingly, a sheriff\u2019s widow who summons the strength to retain her house and her <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/family\/\" type=\"post_tag\" id=\"1509\">family<\/a> amid the <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/great-depression\/\" type=\"post_tag\" id=\"5166\">Great Depression<\/a> (<em>Places in the Heart<\/em>). Those two parts netted her <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/oscars\/\" type=\"post_tag\" id=\"2310\">Oscars<\/a>, for which, on the basis of her \u201cYou like me\u201d acceptance speech for the latter, she was evidently most grateful.<\/p>\n<section class=\"explore-more-section\" id=\"wex-recommended-widget\">\n<div class=\"magazine-container single\">\n<h1 class=\"magazine-title mt-2\">Recommended Stories<\/h1>\n<p>             <i class=\"fa-solid fa-play icon\"><\/i>         <\/div>\n<div class=\"explore-grid\">\n<div class=\"explore-card\">                         <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/entertainment\/4586960\/joe-concha-slams-jimmy-kimmel-spencer-pratt-joke\/?itm_source=parsely-api\">                             <\/p>\n<div class=\"explore-thumb-wrap\">                                                                                                                                  <\/div>\n<h3>Joe Concha slams Jimmy Kimmel for criticisms against Spencer Pratt<\/h3>\n<p>                         <\/a>                     <\/div>\n<div class=\"explore-card\">                         <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/4586672\/performers-drop-out-great-american-state-fair-america-250-celebration\/?itm_source=parsely-api\">                             <\/p>\n<div class=\"explore-thumb-wrap\">                                                                                                                                  <\/div>\n<h3>Majority of performers slated for Great American State Fair America 250 celebration drop out<\/h3>\n<p>                         <\/a>                     <\/div>\n<div class=\"explore-card\">                         <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/4586672\/multiple-performers-drop-out-of-great-american-state-fair-for-america-250-celebration\/?itm_source=parsely-api\">                             <\/p>\n<div class=\"explore-thumb-wrap\">                                                                                                                                  <\/div>\n<h3>Multiple performers drop out of Great American State Fair for America 250 celebration<\/h3>\n<p>                         <\/a>                     <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And perhaps because she was always more fetching than stunning, Field transitioned fairly painlessly to more (how to put this?) seasoned parts. Twice, she embodied America\u2019s idealized vision of a faithful homemaker (as the mom in <em>Forrest Gump<\/em> and as the 16th president\u2019s spouse in Steven Spielberg\u2019s <em>Lincoln<\/em>), and she was a credible Aunt May in <em>The Amazing Spider-Man<\/em>.<\/p>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignleft size-large is-resized\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Lewis Pullman and Sally Field in \u201cRemarkably Bright Creatures.\u201d (Courtesy of Netflix)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Ironically, this reminiscence preceded my viewing of <em>Remarkably Bright Creatures<\/em>, the recent <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/netflix\/\" type=\"post_tag\" id=\"1727\">Netflix<\/a> release that seeks to inaugurate a new, regrettable phase in Field\u2019s five-decade-long movie career. Here, in this sickeningly sweet drama set in a Hallmark Channel-style gloss on the Pacific Northwest, Field has entered the phase in which she is compelled to play second banana to an animal \u2014 specifically, an aquarium-encased octopus dubbed Marcellus who apparently has made an evolutionary leap in his ability to think in English (his thoughts are enunciated, ploddingly, by Alfred Molina) and possess self-consciousness and, indeed, a healthy ego (he is forever reminding us of his first-rate intelligence and keen psychological acuity). That Field finds herself in this state is a low moment indeed; even the human performers in the sitcom <em>My Mother the Car<\/em> escaped with more dignity than a two-time Oscar-winning actress spilling her soul to a cephalopod mollusk.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Field plays Tova Sullivan, a widowed, allegedly elderly woman who, because she is inhabited by the still-spunky actress, never <em>quite<\/em> seems elderly enough. Fortunately, the plot machinations demand that Tova sprain her ankle early in the film, which gives the otherwise ageless Field the excuse to limp or shuffle around in a walking boot. Even so, we simply do not believe that this woman \u2014 independent, self-sufficient, in pretty good shape \u2014 would even consider signing up for a senior living community, a major subplot in the movie. Field has also been directed to bark her lines, as though impatience was an essential component of old age.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Equally confusing is the exact nature of Tova\u2019s economic condition: Although she works as a glorified janitor at the aquarium that houses Marcellus, she makes her home in a beautifully decorated log cabin-like cottage that suggests she would have little need to subject herself to the indignities of physical labor at this point in her life. Of course, as with so many things in a movie like this, plausibility stands no chance next to narrative expediency, and we quickly catch on that the only reason that Tova is seen scrubbing aquarium glass and extracting flattened gum from floors is so that she can appear in proximity to her costar the octopus, whom she moons over so relentlessly that it may be the best evidence for her senescence.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">At one point, Marcellus maneuvers himself out of the aquarium tank and is found slithering around the aquarium offices, and although Tova\u2019s concern to return him to the water is somewhat believable, the intensity of her affection is more befitting a cuter creature \u2014 say, a penguin or a panda \u2014 rather than the slimy, thoroughly uncompanionable organism here. At least the recent (and distressingly similar) <em>The Sheep Detectives<\/em> had the good sense to revolve around sheep.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In fact, Field does have a human co-star, and that I have taken so long to make note of him is indicative of his notable lack of charisma. Lewis Pullman is the son of Bill Pullman, and on the basis of this performance, he is indeed the best possible choice to play the son of his dad\u2019s character, Lone Starr, in the upcoming <em>Spaceballs<\/em> sequel. In the original <em>Spaceballs<\/em>, Pullman pere was meant to be a one-dimensional mannequin, and Pullman fils has exactly the same quality. But this is not <em>Spaceballs<\/em>. He plays Cameron Cassmore, a bedraggled itinerant guitarist whose not-fit-for-the-road van ceases operating in Tova\u2019s town \u2014 which, incidentally, seems modeled less on any known place in the Pacific Northwest and more on a village on the British Isles like the one in a far (far) greater movie, Bill Forsyth\u2019s classic <em>Local Hero<\/em>. Perhaps that\u2019s why Irish actor Colm Meaney has been called in to play the proprietor of a convenience store who, in short order, conspires to get Cameron a job alongside Tova, asks Tova out on a date, and is forever giving away coffee and other goods. I guess inflation has not hit this idyllic burg? As for Cameron, his character development is measured by his increasing attentiveness to janitorial duties.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For his part, Molina, as Marcellus, is asked to deliver sub-Shakespearean dialogue, including the line, as the octopus clings to Tova, \u201cMy tug was instinctual because I felt the hole in her heart,\u201d or the solemn reflection, \u201cIt seems to be a hallmark of the human species: abysmal communication skills.\u201d At least Molina read these lines in the privacy of a recording studio rather than on the set of this stinker.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/premium\/4563396\/netflix-lord-of-the-flies-jack-thorne-review\/\" type=\"link\" id=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/premium\/4563396\/netflix-lord-of-the-flies-jack-thorne-review\/\">NETFLIX\u2019S 4-PART \u2018LORD OF THE FLIES\u2019 IS A SAVAGE, SURREAL SURVIVAL TALE<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">What is the point of all this? Astonishingly, Marcellus means to orchestrate gloppy intergenerational bonding between Tova and Cameron, who each have complex emotional backstories \u2014 lots of pain, lots of loss, several unresolved familial questions \u2014 which are not interesting enough to detail here but with which we are beaten over the head. Even more astonishingly (spoiler alert), Marcellus seems to have, among his other un-octopus-like gifts, powers of precognition since Tova and Cameron turn out to be, uh, kin in a plot turn of soap opera-esque subtlety.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Miss Field, we still like you \u2014 so much so, in fact, that it is our fondest wish for you to never again agree to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/what-in-the-actual-f-is-wrong-with-these-people-nbc-news-edition\/\" title=\"What&#039;s Going On with These People? (NBC News Edition)\">share screen time<\/a> with any sea creatures.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Peter Tonguette is the Life &#038; Arts editor of the <\/em>Washington Examiner <em>magazine.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Sally Field\u2019s early charm with Bridges and Reynolds evolved into Oscar-winning depth, but \u201cRemarkably Bright Creatures\u201d is a misstep<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2691,"featured_media":2608477,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/LA.Film_.060326.jpg?w=696","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[80494,80493,36241,80492,80491],"class_list":["post-2608476","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-awards-and-acting","tag-character-analysis","tag-film-review","tag-remarkably-bright-creatures","tag-sally-field"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/LA.Film_.060326.jpg?w=696","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2608476","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2691"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2608476"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2608476\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2608481,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2608476\/revisions\/2608481"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2608477"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2608476"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2608476"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2608476"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}