Promised Land is a 1987 drama film written and directed by Michael Hoffman and starring Kiefer Sutherland and Meg Ryan. Set in Utah, the film is apparently based on a true story. It was the first film to be commissioned by the Sundance Film Festival, and uses the drama over economic class and manhood to critique the Reagan Administration.

Plot

The film opens by following two American high school acquaintances, a few years after graduation. They are now suffering from deep anger and anguish, because they are not as successful as they hoped to be. Hancock is the high school basketball star who gets into college on an athletic scholarship only to lose the scholarship to a better player. Unable to succeed in college based on his academic merit, he returns to his hometown, becomes a police officer and is slowly moving into a middle-class mediocrity with his cheerleader girlfriend, Mary, who is in college and plans to major in the arts. Hancock is still stewing over the fact that he is no longer the sports star and that his girlfriend is not only reluctant to marry him but may end up being more successful than he.