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Liza71
Reviews
Beyond the Prairie: The True Story of Laura Ingalls Wilder (1999)
The TRUE story??? On what planet? (SPOILERS CONTAINTED HEREIN)
As a fan of both the Little House books and television series, as well as someone who is very interested in the "real life" of Laura Ingalls Wilder, I was looking forward to this movie for months and months. Maybe too much excitement over the fact that it took so long to air in the US raised my expectations to an unrealistic level. Or maybe I'm irritated of the use of the word "TRUE" in the title. Or maybe it was because I kept wanting to call "Pa" by the name of "John Boy." I'm left unsatisfied by this movie. I had problems with this movie from the opening scene(was that a meteor?) with the prairie fire that took place in Kansas transplanted to De Smet, to Laura being all smitten with Almanzo as a girl (she never portrays herself that way in her novels - she didn't seem to like him at first!)...to the COMPLETELY unrealistic loss of Laura's virginity to her husband outdoors (COME ON, this was the Victorian era for crying out loud! Good women didn't do that! Rose Wilder Lane admits that her mother seemed to detest sex in her biography.) While the plot line may have been more "true" than the Michael Landon version... to call this the TRUE STORY is laughable. This movie seems to take enough liberties with a few details that would have made old Mike Landon proud. Overall it's not a bad movie, especially for those of us who have been waiting so long for a new Little House movie. However, it's not the completely "True" story the title claims it to be.
Forever (1978)
Dean Butler in a hot tub!
If you ever wondered what a very young "Almanzo Wilder" looks like in a blue tuxedo or frolicking around in a hot tub, this is the movie for you. That's the only inspiring thing about the film. I read this "coming of age" Judy Blume book as a kid in high school... and it should have just stayed a book! A whole lot of the meaning in her novel got lost in this made for TV translation. If you should happen to catch it on a Sunday afternoon on a bad cable station as I did... just pass.