:) Netflix: September 5, 2007



My Review: My sister recommended this. She liked it. Read the synopsis first. This movie had quirkie characters, an unusual plot, and a beautiful landscape all done with a Mayberry-RFD theme. I thought I liked it, but wasn't quite sure. I guess it was borderline for me. The Mary Steenburgen character was a bit much and probably could have been eliminated. Nell Carter, who played the housekeeper/cook/servant), was just annoying at times. Piper Laurie, Sissy Spacek, Walter Matthau, and Edward Furlong were quite good. I gave it 6/10 as it was a rather sweet story with an unexpected ending. I must admit that I dozed a bit during the middle, though. Part of the problem may have been that it just had too many characters. Another problem may have been that for the first 2/3 of the movie, the Dolly character was kind of pathetic and boring. Verbena's relationship with the Jack Lemon character (Doc, I believe) was predictable and because you tended not to like Verbena anyway, you really didn't care what he did to her. I'm not sure that Edward Furlong had more than a handful of lines - his character didn't have much to say. Actually, I believe I liked "Secondhand Lions" with Robert Duvall, Michael Caine, and Haley Joel Osment better. It also dealt with an orphan-of-sorts who moved in with some eccentric people, but it was faster paced and there was more spark to the story.

SYNOPSIS:
After young Collin Fenwick's (Edward Furlong) parents pass away, he goes to live with two of his father's cousins, Dolly (Piper Laurie) and Verena Talbo (Sissy Spacek). Dolly is the sweet one, who manages to earn her living during the Depression by selling a home remedy she helped invent. The sterner Verena, meanwhile, bosses everyone around.Collin gradually becomes acquainted with the eccentric townspeople, from the gossip-loving barber (Roddy McDowall) to a woman with 15 illegitimate kids (Mary Steenburgen). But the boy's life only achieves clarity after Dolly teaches him about the "grass harp" -- the ability to hear the voices of deceased loved ones in the whistlings of the wind.