Horton Foote has not lost his knack for small-screen storytelling. A leading TV playwright of the '50s, he returns in this Showtime film with a typically understated drama set in Texas. Alone thrives on his gift for creating small talk, graceful and flavorful, always sketching in just a little more of the big picture. The picture here is of a financially strapped clan clutching at the promise of an oil strike on the old family farm. As the farm owner, Hume Cronyn gives the best of the many good performances, a subtle portrayal of an aging widower, eager to help his desperate relatives while also grappling with his own sorrowful memories. A-
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