My thoughts

I'm just giving my opinions here and addressing some of the posts I've seen about this movie. I know there seem to be a lot of strong feelings about it. I understand.

Let me start by saying I haven't read any of the books--yet. I have a friend who has and who has told me I would love them, and I do own three of them and plan to get to them this year. I look forward to it. However, I have seen the three movies with Megan Follows, and I love them. Yes, the third one was different, and I didn't like some things about it, and I missed Marilla (Colleen Dewhurst was SO amazing). But as someone said on these boards, standing alone, I thought it was a pretty good movie. I got into it, and I cried, and I loved when Anne and Gil were reunited. Those elements made me like it. I agree that the first two are the best, but that doesn't mean I can't like the other one too, just in a different way.

With this movie we're discussing, I wasn't sure what I would think, but I came to it with an open mind. I had put it on hold at the library, thinking in my mind it was the first in the series with Megan Follows. Then I got it and saw the cover of the DVD, and I said, "Oh well, I'll get it and see what it's like." I thought it was just another version of "Anne of Green Gables". Same story. Then I got home and read the back. I was interested.

OK, whether it was in the books or not doesn't matter to me, personally. It's a movie. This isn't the first time things like that have been done. It doesn't hurt me any that it doesn't follow anything in the books. Was it interesting? Yes. That's all that matters to me. OF COURSE I didn't like it near as well as the two movies with Megan Follows, as I said. She IS Anne Shirley. I love her. But I still thought this was a decent movie.

AND I thought the little girl in it was adorable, and personally, she reminded me a lot of Megan in the first movie. I thought she captured Anne's spirit very well.

I also liked Shirley MacLain in this. Barbara Hershey, I'm not so sure, but she was ok.

I only had problems with a few points in the plot that I didn't understand or that didn't make sense to me. One was what happened when the Thomases left the last time and seemed to be mad at Anne. I wasn't sure what exactly happened there. Then, when Anne had gone to look for her brother, there were a few things that didn't make sense to me. One was when she went to the old Thomas house--why did she go there looking for Violetta. Since she and her family left /ran away before, how would she have been living there later on, when Anne went back? And how could that old lady (Hepzibah) still be alive, and why was she acting like she didn't know Anne? Finally, why was the brother not mentioned in the father's will, and why was there no record of him?

Aside from the things that didn't make sense, I liked the movie. Some people on here mentioned Megan Follows and others not being in it. Well, if Anne was supposed to be older, then Megan couldn't have played her in this, because she's only in her early 40s. And the same with Jonathan Crombie and the others (Diana and her husband). So for this movie, I thought the casting was decent, and I enjoyed the story, even if it wasn't on par with the other movies.