Hellen I like the storyline of this show,it attract me so much

Manthast Absolutely amazing

Huievest Instead, you get a movie that's enjoyable enough, but leaves you feeling like it could have been much, much more.

Bergorks If you like to be scared, if you like to laugh, and if you like to learn a thing or two at the movies, this absolutely cannot be missed.

Zen-2-Zen One question kept coming up while watching this. Why on Earth pay for so capable actors and then waste them on clumsy adaptation and catastrophic direction. We are talking Paul Newman, Robin Wright and Helen Hunt in one place, which will never happen again, and even Ed Harris is too good for this production.There is a reason why writers who don't write cinematic novels are normally nor allowed to write adaptations of their own work - they are in love with their own writing and turn a movie into an audio book.That's exactly what happened here. Long, unwieldy scenes with a narrator essentially reading the book and footage serving as a mere illustration. Doesn't HBO have anyone to review this stuff and keep sending it back to square one till it actually becomes cinematic. It even spells out book chapters and has things like "this will be in the latter chapter" which is plain pathetic.Good director can usually rectify this kind of mess but Fred Schepisi has shown such ineptitude that's it's painful to watch how he stumbles, neglects character development and uses multiple copies of prior sequences to the point that it becomes annoyingly noticeable. He also seems to be incapable to compose sequences of the right length to convey sub-plots. He either makes them ridiculously long and boring, all the way to having the book being read into your face, or he cuts them short, doesn't finish the park and makes the final cut look random.Particularly annoying aspect is that he doesn't have the first clue how to visually separate scenes that are long memories serving as sub plots from flashbacks (short and dramatic) and from the main/present scenes. They are all just equally flat, not even a change in the lighting or set decor to depict two different times.

Rindiana Typically elaborately crafted HBO production with a first-rate cast, a rich small-town atmosphere and some nice narrative vignettes, graced by above average production values.But, and that's a huge 'but', the various subplots, peopled with some likable, mostly annoying caricatures, are paper-thin and go and and on in dull stretches for over three long hours.The often silly story veers uneasily between melodrama, without being entertaining enough, and personal drama, without being profound at all.A shame, because some scenes really shine. Two or three, that is.4 out of 10 grubby Paul Newmans

hannah-twin Some people did some fantastic performances. Pucci's performance was so real, you could say he wasn't acting. You could swear that the actor who played the principal actually had been a principal, and a kind one. Robin Penn Wright didn't have any false notes, which is incredible inasmuch as she had to show what love is like. The fellow who played Zack Minty was near perfect--playing the kid you hated. Helen Hunt was outstanding as the middle-age woman looking for romance. Estelle Parsons played her mother so well you would think she was Helen Hunt's mother. Farina was great. Hoffman had little screen time, and yet was very touching in a way I can't describe. The only problems were with the people who put the movie together. The difference was too great between the old and new Paul Newman. The old Paul Newman was a much deeper character than the portrayal done by a young version of himself. And Joanne Woodward Newman just didn't seem mean enough to be believable. The Newman's knew how to cast everyone but themselves.

Stephen Herman You have read so many positive reviews, and they are right on the mark. I also agree that you should read the book, and Russo's "Nobody's Fool," - a laugh-out-loud book. This film is a metaphor - but not just about New England. It is a metaphor for what is happening in our country today: greed, corruption, power and control.To lighten up here a bit, if you enjoy deeply drawn characters and are fascinated by psychodynamics, growth and development, jealousy and betrayal, the kindness and the cruelty of children, the power of love, the uncertainty of which direction to choose, the puzzles of our dreams and our nightmares, and what courage it takes to follow one's deepest desires and to be true to oneself, you will love this film.