''The Beans of Egypt, Maine'' (also known as ''Forbidden Choices'') is a 1994

indie Indie is a short form of "independence" or "independent"; it may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media *Independent media, media free of influence by government or corporate interests *Indie art, fine arts made by artists independent of commer ...

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular ...

directed by

Jennifer Warren Jennifer Warren (born August 12, 1941) is an American actress, producer and film director. Early life and education Warren's uncle was Yiddish theatre actor and director Jacob Ben-Ami. Career Warren made her Broadway debut in 1972 in '' 6 Rms ...

and starring

Martha Plimpton Martha Plimpton (born November 16, 1970) is an American actress and member of the Carradine family. She started her career as a teen actress in film before transitioning to adult roles on stage and screen. She has received several awards includ ...

Kelly Lynch Kelly Ann Lynch (born January 31, 1959) is an American film and television actress. She had her breakthrough role in the 1988 film ''Cocktail,'' before playing a romantic lead opposite Patrick Swayze in the cult film '' Road House'' (1989). She w ...

and

Rutger Hauer Rutger Oelsen Hauer (; 23 January 1944 – 19 July 2019) was a Dutch actor, with a career that spanned over 170 roles across nearly 50 years, beginning in 1969. In 1999, he was named by the Dutch public as the Best Dutch Actor of the Century. H ...

. The film is based on the novel of the same name by Carolyn Chute.

Plot

Set in the rural town of Egypt, Maine, the Bean family is a large, partly inbred, backwater family who are poor, proud, hated by all in the local community, but alive in the sense that they struggle against their lot and support each other in time of trouble. One member of the large family is Reuben Bean, an alcoholic and brawler who frequently runs afoul of the law. He has a wife named Roberta, and nine children. All this is observed by Earlene, a young woman who lives with her widowed father across the street from the Beans' trailer. The view from her window has been better than any daytime television soap opera since she was a little girl; especially that of a shirtless Beal Bean, Reuben's nephew. Earlene's highly religious father warns her against any contact with the Bean family, but despite the Beans' crude ways, the young woman is drawn to them. Their earthiness, directness, and unity stand in sharp contrast to her oppressive family life. When Reuben is sent to prison for resisting arrest for out-of-season deer hunting, Beal takes up with Reuben's wife Roberta. Beal also has a short tryst with Earlene, who becomes pregnant after a one-time sexual encounter with him, which results in her being disowned by her father and leads her to marry Beal and move in with him at his trailer. After Earlene gives birth to a daughter, and later to another baby boy, her marriage with Beal begins to fall apart due to Beal's continuing infatuation with Roberta, further complicated by extreme poverty and Beal's pride at his refusal to accept welfare or any handouts. Beal's short temper and his abusive nature soon gets the best of him as he begins drinking and beating Earlene when things get worse for them. After getting into another drunken brawl with some locals, the police are called to Beal's trailer when after he threatens them with his hunting rifle, the police shoot him dead in self defense. With Earlene now alone to raise her five-year-old daughter and one-year-old son all by herself, she finds some hope in the final scene when Reuben arrives after being released from prison. After Reuben learns about his nephew's death, he has a heart-to-heart talk with Earlene and agrees to help support her and Beal's two children the best that he can.

Cast

as Earlene Pomerleau ** Rae Adams as young Earlene Pomerleau *

as Roberta Bean *

as Reuben Bean *

Patrick McGaw Patrick McGaw (born September 13, 1967) is an American actor. He is best known for his role as Neutron in the 1995 film ''The Basketball Diaries (film), The Basketball Diaries'' and as Doug Gordon in the 1996 film ''Malicious (1996 film), Malici ...

as Beal Bean ** Lance Robinson as young Beal Bean * Richard Sanders as Lee Pomerleau * Ariana Lamon-Anderson as Bonnie Loo * Michael MacRae as Cole Deveraux * Susanna Burney as Merry Merry * James Gervasi as Pa Bean *

as Cop

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Beans of Egypt Maine 1994 drama films 1994 films American drama films American Playhouse 1990s English-language films 1990s American films 1994 independent films American independent films Films based on American novels Films set in Maine English-language drama films English-language independent films