This should have been a Lifetime movie (or even an after-school special), since it felt exactly like that kind of overly sentimental dreck. Even the actress playing the mother in the present day looked like she stepped out of a beginning acting class for The Very Sad Divorced Wife (i.e., big bulky sweater, mussed hair, a bottle of vodka next to her on the desk).
How disheartening to see a film that could have been a great period piece end up as a big-screen version of every "victim of the week" TV movie, circa 1992. One point in its favor: excellent set design (it's nice to see a movie set in the South that doesn't automatically recall the plantations of _Gone with the Wind_). But overall, what a sad, stupid waste of Sissy Spacek and Donald Sutherland's talents.
How disheartening to see a film that could have been a great period piece end up as a big-screen version of every "victim of the week" TV movie, circa 1992. One point in its favor: excellent set design (it's nice to see a movie set in the South that doesn't automatically recall the plantations of _Gone with the Wind_). But overall, what a sad, stupid waste of Sissy Spacek and Donald Sutherland's talents.