Giant
(1956)GENRE Dreamy Epic
INGREDIENTS Texas horseman and gazillionaire Rock Hudson presides over a vast ranch. Lovely, patrician Elizabeth Taylor (pictured, at left) inspires endless gawking as his bride. Ranch hand James Dean (at right) broods over Liz until he strikes oil, gets rich, and makes himself truly miserable. All in all, not much happens, but it happens grandly, against a striking widescreen landscape.
YOU CAN SLEEP THROUGH Just about any scene where Hudson and the good ol' boys sit around and talk bidness
STAY AWAKE FOR Dean's drunken meltdown at a gala in his honor; the aging Hudson's feeble fistfight in defense of his Latina daughter-in-law
HEALING POWERS It's a three-and-a-half-hour lullaby with some pretty pictures and just enough quality acting to keep you interested.
ALTERNATIVE MEDICINE Terrence Malick's lush and lulling Days of Heaven, Dances With Wolves, Cold Mountain
