In the meantime, I finally got a good look at my neighbor's house yesterday on the way home from work. It's a total loss. My heart goes out to them.
Honestly, I don't even know who lived there any more. The guy who owned it when I first moved onto this road passed away a few years ago, and I'd thought his widow sold the house. I'm not completely sure.
The bright spot of the day, I received my first Christmas card!
Thanks, Jenn! I've got one more batch to mail out, then all mine will have been sent. I had so many, I divided them up and mailed a few at a time, so as not to overwhelm my mail carrier. Probably not necessary, but I did it anyway. I tried to be kind to those who work in service this time of year. Well, all year, but especially around the holidays. They catch so much crap from the Karens out there, a little extra kindness goes a long way.
Now, for the movie review. If you haven't seen it yet, and want to, stop reading now.
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Still here? OK, let's begin.
First off, it wasn't a bad movie. I don't regret watching it, but it wasn't a great movie, either. It's not one I'd watch over and over again, like the original is. There were a lot of similarities between the two -- naturally -- but there were a lot of differences, as well.
First difference, they completely omitted Ben from the story. The producers claim that decision was to give the other kids "more story", but that just doesn't make sense. In the original movie, all the kids had plenty of story, even with Ben. Another change they made was that Mary Ellen was the one obsessed with becoming a pilot, and Jim Bob wanted to be an architect. Not that there's anything wrong with that -- Amelia Earhart and all -- but we watched for 9 seasons Jim Bob living and breathing flying, hardly taking that pilot's helmet off -- and finally becoming a pilot. The swap is rather jarring, but it appears they wanted to make Mary Ellen a tomboy feminist. She does become "the first female pilot for the postal service". But still, I don't quite get why they couldn't have left Mary Ellen becoming the doctor. In 1933, that would have been just as groundbreaking as becoming a pilot.
Also, the story itself seemed to be rather simplified. I guess they thought they had to dumb it down for today's dumbed down audience. It lacks the depth and richness of the original. Everyone already knows John Boy sits up in his room writing in his tablet, so there's no mystery there, wondering what he's doing in his room with the door locked.
And I wonder about the casting. The boy they cast to play John Boy was good, but the little girl they cast to play Elizabeth was totally wrong for the part.
Elizabeth was supposed to be 5 years old. We know this because at one point, Mama Walton tells Ike, "It's hard to explain the depression to a five year old." But the girl playing Elizabeth looked like she was about 10 - 12 years old. She was huge, almost as tall as Mama Walton. Not only that, she couldn't act worth a flip. She had a couple of crying scenes, and they looked as fake and contrived as they could be.
Finally, I think the biggest detriment to the remake is that throughout the whole movie, they kept showing you were John Sr is. This is a huge mistake in my opinion. In the original, you, the viewer, didn't know any more than the family did. You didn't know if Daddy was safe or not. If he would make it home, or was trapped under a bus somewhere. You felt the same worry and suspense the family did, waiting to see ....
You don't feel the utter let down when Mama sends John Boy out to look for Daddy, only to return home without him -- then the overwhelming relief when the family opens the door and he's there -- with a big bag of presents, no less. This movie robs the viewer of that experience.
Oh don't get me wrong, it wasn't bad movie. It just wasn't a good movie, either. It was worth watching, but won't become the timeless classic the original movie has.
From now on, I'll stick with the 1971 version, thank you very much.
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