Anna Paquin, I must say, did quite a horrible job in this role.
Her accent sounded like a cross between southern and brittish.
All in all, I did not like this movie.
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O proud death, what feast is toward in thine eternal cell? Sweet oblivion, open your arms.
The book is good, the original movie with Julie Harris as Frankie and Ethel Waters as Berenice is good, but this version is just BAAAAAAAAD. Why didn't John Henry die? And I agree, Anna Paquin, she was good in Fly Away Home but she is a terrible Frankie, especially when she's going about the kitchen ranting and raving about meeting people and being members of the whole world.
shareIagree. Paquin's performance was the worse I have ever seen from a young actor. This version was just awful. The original with Julie Harris was wonderful. I haven't seen Paquin in a good performance since "The Piano". I just don't think she has any real talent. She was even bad in "Jane Eyre".
"If I don't suit chu, you kin cut mah thoat!"
I agree- this is one of the all-time WORST MOVIES I have ever seen!!! A total waste of time and film!
Julie Harris was about 26 playing what I assume was a role written for a young teenager. Anna Paquin is a preteen playing a more age appropriate role. If anything this would seem a more realistic portrayal of a girl experiencing a lot of growing up in a couple of days.
After reading about missing scenes I feel that the Hallmark production code ripped so much meat from the story that they left it with mo heart.
I have not seen the 1952 version but would be interested in hearing more about it. I would be interested in reading a scene by scene comparison, and the premise of Julie Harris playing this role. The role seems to call for the naiveness of either someone very young or mentally afflicted.
The scenes about the soldier molester seemed not to fit,(especially in a Hallmark made for TV movie). Surely those were her neighbors at the bar where they met. You would expect someone to intervene about a minor girl being given beer by a strange man. So that scene was presumably written for an older actress.
Coming in a few years later so not sure you'll see this. The book was indeed wonderful and highly recommended. In the book Frankie was in a strange part of town where apparently no one recognized her and she realized the soldier thought her a much older person (than her true age of 11 or 12--in a bar which obviously did not "card"). Perhaps the other bar patrons also thought so or figured it was none of their business. I liked this movie but recommend the 1952 film more highly, particularly as regards the actor and character of John Henry. There is absolutely no comparison between them, and the other main characters in the old movie are also better.
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