Nora Roberts’ Carolina Moon On TV…
Sunday, January 11, 2009Posted in: When good romances make bad tv
So we watched this in bed last Sunday.
I spent the whole two hours putting my head in my hands, in total despair.
Claire Forlani looked the part, but the acting was terrible.
Oliver Hudson didn’t look the part, and the acting was awful.
The girl who played Faith looked the part, and her acting was awful too, but at least she made me crack a smile or two.
It was worse than an over-dramatised soap opera, and it was painful to watch.
There were too many cringeworthy moments for me to list them all, but the part where Tory senses the killer approaching her house in the middle of the night, so decides to go out an confront him with a knife? A total own-face-eating moment.
I don’t remember the book version very well, but if I’d come across this scene in the actual book, I’m sure I’d have screamed blue murder.
Urrghh, two hours of my life I wont be getting back any time soon.
Another reason why perhaps it would be best to not mess with Eve and Roarke, and leave them in the comfort of our own imaginations.
Big Effing Sigh.
katiebabs
January 11
7:35 pm
No actor or actress will ever be good enough to play Roarke or Eve IMO.
I think Lifetime is making more Nora R books into movies.
West
January 11
8:10 pm
Yeah, they hurt me too, although I don’t remember watching that one. I think I gave up after the first two or three. Part of it is I almost never like the casting, the other part is that I hate the changes they make to the stories to fit them into a two hour movie. Drives me nuts. My general rule for everything is that if I loved the book, I should aviod the movies (same goes if I’ve loved the movie but never read the book).
I won’t watch the new ones they are making, after watching Angel Falls and Montana Sky. Midnight Bayou is one of my favorite Nora books, and I refuse to watch it be butchered.
And yeah, I know there are a lot of people dying to see the In Death books turned into a movie, but I think it’s just as well the optioning has lapsed.
Jigisha
January 11
9:29 pm
I thought Carolina Moon was better than the other 3 movies. Angels Fall with Heather Locklear just made me want to jump out of a window. Montana Sky and Blue Smoke weren’t any better, even though they starred some actors that I’ve admired. I was particularly upset at the Montana Sky movie because it’s one of my favorite books and the movie was a total cheeze fest. I just hope they do a better job with the four other movies based on her books that they are making this year.
M E 2
January 12
12:20 am
Since I have primairly only read Ms. Roberts’ series (Silhouette) books, I found the movies to be relatively good entertainment. Although, I did read CAROLINA MOON and hated it! So, for me, the movie was a big improvement. :::big shrug of shoulders::: Diff’rent strokes and all that.
Rosie
January 12
5:14 am
I don’t understand it. Nora Roberts writes some damn good books (I’m not saying every book, but there are some damn fine ones). I do not understand why a decent movie adaptation cannot be made. It’s so irritating.
As for Heather Locklear in ANGEL FALLS… don’t get me started.
Nora Roberts
January 12
12:59 pm
Sorry, Karen!
I will say I took a slightly more active role in vetting the scripts for the next round–to try to avoid scenes like: Mad killer on the loose, heroine hears strange noise in the middle of the night, goes out alone to investigate.
But no guarantees. It’s not easy to adapt a 500-plus page book to a hour and forty-odd minute TV movie.
Katharina
January 12
7:09 pm
The worst adaption, IMO, was Angels Fall. I mean, I loved this book, it’s on my keepershelf, so what has Heather Locklear lost in this film? She was DEFINITELY too old to play this role, about ~ten years or so, and it shows. I dearly would like to re-read the book, but I think I need to wait longer until I’ve forgotten the movie.
Throwmearope
January 13
4:56 am
I watched all four of them twice and liked them a lot. But I didn’t approach them as adaptations of books that I loved but as just another romance film on Lifetime. And they were way, way better than the usual Lifetime fare.
My husband said he had to do the same thing with Lord of the Rings. He loved the movies, even though he felt they had little to do with the books.
Karen may be a little spoiled by all the excellent actors in the British system. In the US, we have more movie stars than actors a lot of the time, I fear.
melindaevette
January 16
9:51 am
They ruined Montana Sky! It’s such a great book too. I still had hope until i finally saw Angel Falls. Now I don’t even bother to find out what they’re going to ruin next. Please DO NOT mess up Eve, Roarke and especially not my Peabody.
Ebony
January 16
6:25 pm
I liked the movie. What I had to do was pretend like I had never read the book…when I did that, I was able to enjoy the movie like a regular Lifetime movie. For me, most of the time, except for Stephen Kings, the movies can never do the books justice.
Martah Lindley
March 31
2:56 am
Heather Locklear is an “okay” actress for “fluff” TV series. She was definitely not right for the lead in “Angel Falls”. She is obviously older than the character was in the book. She just looked worn out and it was a distraction throughout the whole movie. Nora knows how to write wonderful stories, but the adaptation to TV is just not there. The acting in “Carolina Moon” was amateurish, as was the acting in “Montana Sky”. Gosh, that was just an awful thing to watch. I’ll just keep reading her books and use my imagination.