Andrew Sarris

“….One esteemed colleague took a poke at Kathleen Turner's performance by expressing a preference for Debra Winger, the original choice for the part…. Winger would undoubtedly have been broader and funnier than Turner, but not nearly as subtly sympathetic and realistic. There are still some problems with the script and some of the casting, but Turner's full-bodied and spirited portrayal of a woman whose mature wisdom cannot overcome her destiny remains for [me] the performance of the year. The caressing glow Coppola casts on her hair is just an extra dividend.” 

-- Andrew Sarris, Village Voice, October 21, 1986 

In a column about the Academy Awards, Sarris asked something like, "[When's the last time they gave someone an Oscar for acting with rather than at her colleagues]" and the bitterness in his comments about Spacek, with Kael's help, winning the New York Film Critics best actress award.

To this point in her career, Sarris hadn't thought much of Winger, but he would later retroactively revise it, asking how could he have missed her qualities?

(originally quoted on this blog in 2005)