The review about this product
Movies based upon a book can never be a faithful copy because there simply is not time enough to put all of the details from the book into a film. But a good adaptation captures the major elements of the book: Those parts of the plot which are not only essential but which allow us to see the what is really happening to the main characters and why they are who they are. That simply did not happen here.
In the book Maggie is a very young widow- and not because her husband was killed in a war or an accident. Instead, her husband died of cancer diagnosed almost as soon as they were married. Her entire experience of marriage has been that of caring for a dying spouse- an experience guaranteed to completely shut down any woman emotionally (and would have done the same to a man, for that matter). The cheap 'left at the altar' substitution simply cannot carry the same sort of emotional freight. Mark and his brothers were scared for life by emotionally abusive parents- whose twisted, obsessive form of 'love' has left all three brothers (and their now deceased sister) utterly cynical about the idea of love and romance. Oddly, this very fact has made all three of them quite successful businessmen- as if they substituted success for love. The real 'miracle' in the book is NOT Holly speaking again (which happens early in the book) but rather the fact that Maggie and Mark are able to learn to overcome their massive emotional handicaps and find each other: The movie misses this completely.
I speculate as to why the adaptation was done as it was. Was it to save money? Given that the actual location of the shooting was NOT San Juan Island; that the small ferry was not the kind used for that route (The one used does not have enough capacity- and would have sunk on that route at the first decent wind); and that some of the books most visually appealing attributes were scrapped (Sam's house is set in a vineyard in the book- come on folks- how could you not have wanted to film that? That's right- Holly is now destined to grow up in the middle of a vineyard.) I can only conclude that it had to have been a budget decision. That is just too bad because the book is a great story that deserved a much better script.
You will note that, despite the fact that the adaptation was awful, I still give this movie three stars: That is a tribute to the very fine acting. All of the actors did their best to rise above a badly mangled script- they almost made this a good movie. As it was, faced with disaster, they actually turned this mess into something acceptable. If you buy this movie you have not wasted your money- it is as good as most movies in this genre. If Emmy's or Oscars were given out for Best Actor or Actress at Rescuing a Bad Movie these folks would deserve one. Good for them. But what is a decent movie could have been one of the all-time greatest Hallmark Hall of Fame movies if the adaptation had been more faithful to the principle ideas of the book, and that is a real shame.
