Love's Abiding Joy Premieres Saturday

In 2003, the made-for-television movie Love Comes Softly premiered on the Hallmark Channel. Based on best-selling author Janette Oke's first book, the film was directed by Michael Landon Jr. and undeniably has a "Little House on the Prairie-esque" feel (I guess it can be said in the area of television production: like father, like son). Due to the movie's success, it was soon followed by small screen versions of Oke's next two books in the series: Love's Enduring Promise (2004) and Love's Long Journey (2005).

This Saturday, Love's Abiding Joy, the fourth movie in the Love Comes Softly series and the first to be released on the silver screen, makes its television premiere on the Hallmark Channel. In October, FoxFaith Movies distributed it to a limited number of theaters across the U.S. and it's scheduled to be released on DVD in early January. While I didn't make it to the theater to see this film, having a husband who's an editor has it's benefits. Ted received an advance copy of the DVD release, which he promptly brought home for me to watch.

When I turned on the DVD, my expectations were low. Although Love Comes Softly moved both me and Ted to tears with it's tender tale of grief, faith, and love, Love's Enduring Promise was, to put it bluntly, barely tolerable. The script was not well crafted and the casting of January Jones as Missie left a lot to be desired. When Love's Long Journey aired in 2005, I was relieved to see Erin Cottrell (who also played Caroline Ingalls in the 2005 ABC mini-series Little House in the Prairie) replace Jones in the role. Not only was the casting better in Love's Long Journey, but the script was an improvement.

Unfortunately, when I started Love's Abiding Joy on Monday night, I only made it through 30 minutes. But not for the reasons you may assume. In the past, I've turned off movies for inappropriate content and even boredom. But before this film, I'd never turned off a film because it affected me so deeply I was unable to keep watching. That's exactly what happened with this movie.

Here's where I should warn you that this review does contain some plot spoilers.

For those unfamiliar with the plot, Love's Abiding Joy is the continued story of Willie and Missie LaHaye as the strive to keep their cattle ranch financially secure and to raise their family in the frontier of the Wild West. About thirty minutes into the film they suffer an unimaginable blow -- the death of their infant daughter, Kathy. One morning she suddenly stops breathing. While I haven't experienced the loss of a child, the memory of seeing my youngest daughter Ava stop breathing for several seconds is still fresh in my memory. Because of this, I simply couldn't handle Kathy's death in this film. Hence, my need to turn it off.

This afternoon I finished the film, although not without many tears. It's a beautiful story of a family who walks through grief -- struggling and questioning in the process -- yet manages to survive it with family and faith intact.

So, for those of you looking for a film worth watching, tune into or TiVo Love's Abiding Joy this Saturday night. Just be sure to have plenty of Kleenex on hand. If you're like me, you'll need it.

The Mystery and Suspence of Dickens

It isn't often that my husband and I spend every night in a given week watching television. But this week we did. Each night we turned on our gas fireplace, lit a couple of candles, and fed our latest addiction: Bleak House.

In September, both Girl Talk and Danielle recommended the 2005 BBC mini-series. I immediately put it on hold at our local library. Because of its popularity, we were finally able to check it out last week. And, because it is in such demand, we were only able to keep it for a week before we had to return it for the next person in line.

Bleak House is based on the Charles Dickens' novel by the same name. The drama is a satire on the 19th century British legal system. Yet for viewers the true meat of the DVD series is not in a legal battle, but in the mystery involving Lady Deadlock and a stack of love letters.

The series pairs up a classic story with contemporary cinematography. Transitional shots are quick and darting, while a fair number of shots within scenes are partially obscured by some object in the forefront, such as a branch from a tree. This effect gives some of the scenes a feeling of voyeurism; like the audience is quietly, secretly watching the story unfold. While the style works overall, after multiple episodes, the obscuring gets a bit old.

The story is confusing for the first two or three episodes because there are several threads developing simultaneous and a huge cast of characters. My husband wasn't sure what was going on at first, but I told him to hang on, that the numerous storylines were puzzle pieces that would soon began to fit together. As they did, we found ourselves hooked.

As far as casting goes, it's superb. While the only actors I recognized were Gillian Anderson (known for her role on X-Files) and Carey Mulligan (from 2005 film version of Pride and Prejudice), I thought each actor in the series did a remarkable job. Some of my favorites include Anderson as Lady Deadlock, Burn Gorman as Mr. Guppy, Anna Maxwell Martin as Esther Summerson, and Hugo Spear as Sergeant George.

Each episode builds in suspense until the last two. Episodes 14 and 15 are spent wrapping up the story. Honestly, after all the mystery and suspense, I found the ending to be somewhat of a let down.

For any of you who love classics and mystery, Bleak House is a must. It's not only well produced, directed, and acted, but it's a story viewers can learn from. It's a tale that illustrates well the danger of secret sin, the law of sowing and reaping, and the powerful influence and impact a honorable woman such as Esther Summerson can have on those around her.