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