Following a devastating accident, a woman—Ellen Burstyn—has an unclear experience related to death and subsequently finds she possesses the ability to heal, which provokes varied responses from those around her. Sam Shepard portrays her lover, Eva Le Gallienne embodies her affectionate grandmother, and Richard Farnsworth takes on the role of a charming older man residing in the desert. "Resurrection" (1980) examines an idea previously explored twelve years prior in the Star Trek episode "The Empath,” although this story unfolds in contemporary America (which would have been 1979, when filming occurred). The film asks how people living in a typical American setting might react to a woman with healing abilities. This theme would be revisited fifteen years later in “Powder” (1995) and "Phenomenon" (1996). I believe “Powder” is the most emotionally impactful of these three films, at least approaching true quality, though this one does have its worthwhile moments. What holds it back is an excess of uninspired dramatic scenes, and particularly problematic, a scene involving a man with a rifle riding a motorcycle. While that plot element seems to mirror aspects of reality, the writing and execution could have been improved. By “reflecting reality,” I mean those individuals who suddenly experience what they perceive as a religious awakening and quickly begin quoting scripture; within just a few days—and there you have it—they’ve become self-proclaimed biblical scholars, launching into loud pronouncements and corresponding behaviors. It's all unbalanced, overly strict adherence to rules without any genuine wisdom. The movie raises some interesting questions and is generally effective, with several strong points, but it dwells on its uncertainties and ambiguous areas to the point of seeming foolish. For example, is the quiet father wrong to object to his daughter living with him (even though she’s nearing forty years old)? If she wanted to defy social norms, she could simply move out and avoid disrespecting her father's clear moral stance. One would expect that Edna’s experiences following the accident might have instilled some practical spiritual sense. The film has a running time of 1 hour, 43 minutes, and was filmed on the prairie east of San Antonio, Texas (in Goliad, Shiner, Gonzales, Fabens & Kyle), with additional sequences shot in Valencia & Los Angeles, California, as well as Fabens in west Texas, southeast of El Paso. GRADE: B-/C+

Source on TMDB