Heimkehr

"Coming Home" could make a very engrossing 6-8 hour mini-series; unfortunately this production is all surface fairy-tale gloss with none of the depth and intent of the book. Vast and important chunks of the original story are missing; most of the remnants are turned upside-down and inside-out, and given a relentlessly sentimental greeting-card treatment. The author's serious attempt to portray life as she knew it as a young woman before, during, and after WWII is almost completely lost. A group of very interesting and capable actors is pretty much wasted. Its difficult to understand why the producers took the approach they did; one gets the impression that they must not have liked the original book much.

In this three-hour miniseries, Emily Mortimer stars as a young woman who gets "adopted" into her best friend's family while on holiday during boarding school. Her own family is in Singapore and she never sees them, so she takes on a new life in the upper crust with Katie Ryder Richardson and her family. Patriarch Peter O'Toole, matriarch Joanna Lumley, and brother Paul Bettany all accept Emily as dearly as if she were a blood relative, as do family friends and constant visitors George Asprey and Patrick Ryecart. Coming Home has all the elements of success: war drama, love triangles, death, pregnancies, melodrama, and pain. It takes place from the early 1930s through WWII and features a very likable heroine trying to find love and happiness. Americans might not understand how a family could abandon their daughter for years, but it was a common British practice to send young kids to boarding school and see them only during the holidays. If stationed abroad, the student instead spends time with a relative in closer proximity or a kind friend's family.

I'd love to reach the original novel, since the miniseries was so entertaining. Each of the characters came to life, even if they didn't have much screen time. Peter O'Toole, a marvelous actor, was only given one scene to show his acting chops - but that scene might be the one that sticks with you the most. He shaves his son's face, and the myriad of emotions he feels will make you reach for your handkerchief. Patrick Ryecart's character was so interesting, I'd love to learn more. Joanna Lumley's elegance made it seem like she really was mistress of the manor, and the camera crew asked if she'd agree to act as herself for television. What a graceful woman! And who wouldn't love to be the subject of George Asprey's longing looks?

As the lead, Emily had such determination and strength. I was proud of her time and again, as she refused to be a simpering female and stood up to her bullies. Her independence wasn't unrealistic for the time period, though, which I appreciated. She was simply a strong woman, who started off as a strong child. The first portion of the miniseries features her time at boarding school, and she's played by a thirteen-year-old Keira Knightley! Keira spends time with a fun (and also strong, whom she perhaps strives to emulate) aunt, Penelope Keith. Penelope's friend, David McCallum, harasses Keira - and her unusual intelligence puts her in a great position to fight back.

Kiddy Warning: Obviously, you have control over your own children. However, due to an upsetting scene involving a child, I wouldn't let my kids watch it.

If you like WWII stories, definitely rent Coming Home. Don't get it confused with the Jane Fonda classic, and instead, grab a cozy blanket and settle in for three hours of great melodrama.

With Knightly and O'Tool as the leads, this film had good possibilities, and with McCallum as the bad guy after Knightly, maybe some tension. But they threw it all away on silly evening frill and then later on with maudlin war remnants. It was of course totally superficial, beautiful English country and seaside or not.The number one mistake was dumping Knightly so early on in the film, when she could easily have played someone a couple of years older, instead of choosing someone ten years older to play the part. They missed all the chances to have great conflict among the cast, and instead stupidly pulled at the easy and low-cost heartstring elements.

A 4-hour romance novel set in Britain before during and after WWII. The heroine falls into a fortune near the beginning and nothing much worse happens to her after that. I hoped for a couple more plot twists, but even so, it has its charms, and I looked forward to finishing all 4 episodes. Good acting. Fair-Poor direction. Horrible soundtrack reminiscent of an oatmeal commercial.

American viewers will be surprised (well, I was) by the partial female nudity that pops up every hour or so just as interest starts to flag.

Great cast and love the war setting as we have so much to be thankful for in peace time. However, this show is quite hypocritical over sexualising women - one character is clearly portrayed as bad for being a creep but all the topless scenes throughout the three hours undermine this message.