When it comes to individual singers, I don’t think there’s anybody who
holds a more exalted place in my musical hierarchy than John Denver. So
when I was browsing around YouTube the other day looking for a recording
of Alaska and Me, I was startled to come across a version of the song from a movie I never knew existed. The title: Higher Ground, which is also the title of my favorite John Denver album, the album on which Alaska and Me is found. I didn’t care what the movie was about; I immediately put it in my Netflix queue.
I figured, though, that there would be an inspirational bent to it.
After all, this was John Denver, and the movie shares its name with a
song whose chorus is “Maybe it’s just the dream in me, maybe it’s just
my style, maybe it’s just the freedom that I’ve found, but given the
possibility of living up to the dream in me, you know that I’ll be
reachin’ for higher ground.” It looks as though the song may have been
written specifically for the movie; certainly it’s integrated into the
score to an almost excessive extent, with the keyboard picking up the
theme with various emotional shadings at key moments in the movie.
Knowing that at least one other song from the album was featured in the
movie, I had hopes that it might be a showcase for several of the
tracks, but Alaska and Me and Higher Ground are the only
songs included, with the exception of a song at a sing-along whose words
I can’t make out. If it’s a John Denver song, it’s one I’ve never heard
before. Granted, looking over the songs on the album, several of them
seem completely inappropriate, particularly Sing Australia and Country Girl in Paris. But there are a couple of scenes in which All This Joy would have fit in very nicely, and there could have been a place for For You or Never a Doubt.
Music isn’t a huge part of this movie, though. Denver’s character is
Jim Clayton, an FBI agent in Los Angeles who becomes disillusioned with
his job after his boss makes a choice that costs someone his life. He
decides to take his buddy Rick up on his offer to come to Alaska and fly
for his struggling airline, which primarily shuttles fishing supplies.
Rick is played by Martin Kove,
previously known to me only as El Creepo Supremo John Kreese in the
Karate Kid movies. I recognized him immediately and was curious to see
him in this much more sympathetic role. While Rick is a bit of a
hothead, he’s indisputably a good guy, and I especially like the
camaraderie between him and Jim.
Rick is a husband and a
father. His wife Ginny (Meg Wittner) ends up having a larger role than
he does, as does his son Tommy, played by Brandon Marsh, whose single
acting credit is for this movie. That doesn’t surprise me, since I found
his performance very over-the-top and borderline abrasive. On the
whole, though, I was fine with the acting, especially by Richard Masur,
who is nicely understated as villainous booze runner McClain, and John Rhys-Davies, whose Lieutenant Smight is a robust Scotsman determined to see justice served.
This movie was written by Michael Eric Stein, directed by Robert Day
and produced in part by John Denver. It feels like a pet project for
him, and I can’t help thinking he had input into the general direction
of the screenplay. For his fans, that’s pretty good news, though there’s
something very unsettling now about seeing scene after scene of John
Denver flying a small airplane over a large expanse of water. The
scenery is gorgeous, however, and the emphasis on nature, clean living
and diplomacy all seem right in line with the messages he presented
through his music. Some of the dialogue is a little cheesy, especially
Jim’s habit of calling everybody he meets “pal,” but that’s about what I
would expect from a made-for-TV flick.
Yes, this movie was
aired on television and then largely forgotten. I wouldn’t call it a
masterpiece. But for a lifelong John Denver fan, it is a hidden
treasure. If you count yourself in that category and are just as unaware
of this film as I was, do yourself a favor and reach for Higher Ground.
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