I have been watching Hallmark Hall of Fame productions for a long time - the first one I remember was George C Scott and Colleen Dewhurst in Arthur Miller's The Price from 1971. Never having read the book Pictures of Holliss Woods is based on but knowing how these productions usually end, I fully expected to withstand the pulls on my emotions. But like always with Hallmark, I failed.
Jodelle Ferland plays Hollis Woods, so named for the intersection of streets where she was abandoned as a baby. Growing up in the foster system and being shuttled from family to family, she has built an emotional wall with no gates to deal with the inevitable rejection she knows is coming down the road.
Hollis gets placed with an old eccentric artist and sculptor after her last placement with the Regans had failed. The story of that failure is told in intermittent flashbacks of spending the summer at a remote cabin the Regan's go to every summer with their teenage son Steven.
Josie (Sissy Spacek) plays the eccentric Hollis is placed with after the Regans. From the beginning it's obvious Josie has memory lapses and the specter of Alzheimer's disease will be a part of the plot. Long before anyone should have to, Holliss is going to have to make decisions about her future and the care of Josie.
James Tupper and Julie Ann Emery do a great job of playing the Regan's. You get the feeling they are real parents that are just what Holliss needs and not the cartoon caricatures most movie married couples are portrayed as. Ridge Canipe as their son Steven is not so convincing - I always got the feeling he was acting like a teenager instead of being one.
Alfre Woodard does a good job as Holliss' social worker. You wonder why she got into the business sometimes but it's a tricky line between being too nice and too harsh that any successful social worker has to tread.
There are a few plot holes - you never get an understanding why Holliss has had trouble getting a permanent home. Usually infants are the easiest children to place in adoptions. And the incident that caused Holliss to leave the Regans was seen coming a mile away. But by the end, knowing it's just a story and they are just acting, don't be surprised to have a tear or two along with a smile because that's what Hallmark is great at.
Jodelle Ferland plays Hollis Woods, so named for the intersection of streets where she was abandoned as a baby. Growing up in the foster system and being shuttled from family to family, she has built an emotional wall with no gates to deal with the inevitable rejection she knows is coming down the road.
Hollis gets placed with an old eccentric artist and sculptor after her last placement with the Regans had failed. The story of that failure is told in intermittent flashbacks of spending the summer at a remote cabin the Regan's go to every summer with their teenage son Steven.
Josie (Sissy Spacek) plays the eccentric Hollis is placed with after the Regans. From the beginning it's obvious Josie has memory lapses and the specter of Alzheimer's disease will be a part of the plot. Long before anyone should have to, Holliss is going to have to make decisions about her future and the care of Josie.
James Tupper and Julie Ann Emery do a great job of playing the Regan's. You get the feeling they are real parents that are just what Holliss needs and not the cartoon caricatures most movie married couples are portrayed as. Ridge Canipe as their son Steven is not so convincing - I always got the feeling he was acting like a teenager instead of being one.
Alfre Woodard does a good job as Holliss' social worker. You wonder why she got into the business sometimes but it's a tricky line between being too nice and too harsh that any successful social worker has to tread.
There are a few plot holes - you never get an understanding why Holliss has had trouble getting a permanent home. Usually infants are the easiest children to place in adoptions. And the incident that caused Holliss to leave the Regans was seen coming a mile away. But by the end, knowing it's just a story and they are just acting, don't be surprised to have a tear or two along with a smile because that's what Hallmark is great at.