So-called "Woman's Films," containing narratives built around the dilemmas (romantic or otherwise) faced by the film's central female character, were popular attractions at movie theaters throughout the 1930s and 1940s only to die out as tastes changed. Audiences were drawn to these films, which usually featured strong female characters, romance, and stories of female perseverance. "Cross Creek" functions more or less as a "woman's film." It's the story of Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings (Mary Steenburgen), the author of the classic novel "The Yearling." Seeking inspiration after a fallow creative period, Rawlings sets out, despite the concerns and objections of others, including her current husband, to a remote part of rural, backwoods Florida, populated only by people who live off the land, not because they have to, but because it's the only way the know how to live. And they love it all the same.
After an initial rough start in her new home in Cross Creek, Rawlings perseveres. At Cross Creek with the help of her maid Geechee (Alfre Woodard), neighbors (Rip Torn and Joanna Miles), a farmhand/moonshiner (Ike Eisenmann) and the pastoral beauty of her surroundings, Rawlings finds community, solace and the inspiration to write "The Yearling" after a series of repeated rejections by her publisher. Marjorie's romantic life is a lesser concern for the film. She has a suitor (Peter Coyote), who she rejects at one point, before agreeing to his proposal, but the film is more about Marjorie's love for her surroundings. Martin Ritt captures the damp, sweltering beauty of this part of Florida wonderfully. The production design and costumes are additionally well done.
Refreshingly, the film largely refuses to condescend to those who call Cross Creek home. When they could've easily been portrayed as a bunch of hicks for cheap laughs or simply out of derision, Cross Creek's inhabitants are seen as normal people living in a unique environment. Only Geechee, the maid played with wonderful exuberance by Alfre Woodard, is rather cliché ridden. (It should be said that the film really isn't interested in Geechee at all – she doesn't even possess a real name) The character is a stereotypically loyal, deferential servant used occasionally to lighten the film's usually somber mood. And her boyfriend, LeRoy, is shown as simply shiftless.
A few other faults remain with the film. "Cross Creek," in general, has all the ingredients of a good "Woman's Picture" (escapism, female triumph and perseverance, a little romance), except for, perhaps, the most important part - a strong female lead. Steenburgen, often appearing as she's about to wilt, just isn't strong or compelling enough. She's awfully milquetoast and dainty in the lead role, which makes her character's eventual triumphant adaptation to her often harsh and unwelcoming surroundings a little less believable. Coming off her massive success in "Melvin & Howard," "Cross Creek" was the first time she had the opportunity to headline a major motion picture and it was also basically the last time as well. The film (decidedly character driven) also drags at times and one occasionally may wonder, over the course of the film's two hour running time, about the film's larger meaning and the reasons for it being made. Is it about the importance of community; the inspiring powers of nature; a woman's quest for independence and meaning; or is it simply the tale of how "The Yearling" came to be? The film doesn't quite seem to know either.