An Old Fashioned
Thanksgiving (2008 Telefilm/Sony
DVD)
Picture: C
Sound: C+ Extra: C- Telefilm: C-
Though
not as preachy or condescending as most of the Affirm Productions we have seen,
Graeme Campbell’s TV movie version of Louisa May Alcott’s An Old Fashioned
Thanksgiving (2008) is as boring as the endless (and endlessly bad) remakes
that never end of her classic novel Little
Women. It does have Jacqueline
Bisset as Isabella, but even she cannot save this… yes, I will say it…
Turkey!
This
drags on for 88 minutes is everything we have seen before, is still made in
a way that never feels authentic and the
actors in general seem to be in a place other than the time period this is
supposedly taking place in. I expected
an announcer to plug some product for the holiday, but Bisset at least tires to
give it her all and steals the scenes she is actually in. Shelly Evans’ teleplay simply cannot figure
out a way to make this richer and more interesting. Too bad we get a TV dinner instead of a full
course meal.
The
anamorphically enhanced 1.78 X 1 image is shockingly too soft in too many shots
throughout, which is a shame because some money was actually put into costumes,
props and location choices, but this looks bad too often for its own good. The Dolby Digital 5.1 really overly stretches
out sound that is simple stereo at best and the combination is trying. The only extra is a promo featurette from the
Hallmark Network, who aired this originally.
- Nicholas Sheffo
