This Woody Guthrie biopic got deserved Oscars for cinematography and musical score but it doesn't have much more to recommend it. If you want to watch a story about Okies and migrant workers in the Depression, "The Grapes of Wrath" is vastly superior. While this is probably the best role that David Carradine ever had, I found his performance very frustrating. He was so laconic, laid back and minimalistic that he almost faded into the background. Film biographies are about bigger than life characters and that is not Woody Guthrie in this movie.
Honestly, I think the movie would've been better had Ronny Cox, who plays a supporting role in this film as another union-activist folk singer, had played Guthrie instead of Carradine.
Honestly, I think the movie would've been better had Ronny Cox, who plays a supporting role in this film as another union-activist folk singer, had played Guthrie instead of Carradine.