Blue Sky is a 1994 American drama film directed by Tony Richardson and starring Jessica Lange, Tommy Lee Jones, Powers Boothe, Carrie Snodgress, Amy Locane, and Chris O'Donnell. It tells the story of a nuclear coverup. It was adapted by Rama Stagner, Arlene Sarner and Jerry Leichtling. The original music score was composed by Jack Nitzsche. Filmed from May 14 to July 16, 1990, the film was completed in 1991, but because of the bankruptcy of Orion Pictures, it sat on the shelf until 1994, three years after Richardson's death on November 14, 1991, making this his final film. Despite this, it won critical praise and Lange won the 1994 Academy Award for Best Actress, along with the Golden Globe Award and the Los Angeles Film Critics Association award. The film is based on Rama Stagner-Blum's real life and the relationship between her parents, Clyde and Gloria Lee Moore-Stagner, during the 1960s while her father was in the army. They later divorced and Gloria remarried before dying in 1982. Plot In 1962, Major Hank Marshall (Jones) and his wife, Carly (Lange), are having marital problems because of the pressures of his job and her mental illness. Hank is a nuclear engineer who favors underground nuclear testing, an initiative code-named "Blue Sky", as opposed to above-ground, open-air detonations. Carly is a free spirit who appears to be mentally unbalanced and who is slowly being suffocated by domestic torpor and encroaching age. Her behavior embarrasses him, especially given the restrictions that prevail within a military base. Their move from Hawaii to an isolated base in Alabama alarms their oldest daughter, Alex (Locane), and sends Carly into a violent tantrum. The following day, Hank has his first meeting with base commander Colonel Vince Johnson (Boothe), who rebuffs his underground testing initiative despite strong scientific support. Meanwhile, Vince's wife Vera (Snodgress) welcomes Carly and invites her to a party organized by the base officers' wives. Carly gets drunk at the party and demonstrates exotic dancing skills. Vera begs her husband to do something about her, to which Vince agrees but says he'll have to get Hank out of the way first. Alex starts dating Vince's son Glenn (O'Donnell) and on their first date finds what she takes to be a dud grenade. It explodes, alerting the whole base to their relationship and giving Vince more reason to get rid of Hank. Carly is invited