A Place to Call Home

This film seems to be missing the main motivation for its heroine. It is made clear throughout the film, particularly in the epilogue, that Linda Lavin's character is an extremely devout Catholic. She is raising her 11 children by herself in the Australian Outback while her husband is away-- money is short-- the children hate their new life on the ranch-- she has a surly ranch hand to contend with-- but you never see her praying, let alone gathering everyone 'round for the family rosary. Sure, she mentions she loves being pregnant, a veiled reference to her adherence to the Catholic Church's ban on artificial contraception, and a Catholic priest shows up occasionally as a family friend, but surely in real life this woman's spiritual life was so much richer. The only intense spiritual practice in this film is the aboriginal belief, immediately adopted by the children, that magical stones can make it rain.

Points for plucky Linda Lavin, especially at the end when she gives her eunuch of a husband the heave ho--she should have thrown HIM into the rushing water and gone back to the sheep station with her kids!!! How ironic that he wanted to move there because he thought the kids were going' soft, yet he didn't have the *Beep* to divorce his wife before he forced her to move to the other side of the globe. What a catch he was, eh? Meanwhile, ya gotta admire Lavin's character in this role, though I found her acting a bit understated--like she was holding back. And the kids, though equally plucky (and the little ones were cute) had their annoying moments. Still, it was a good "fish out of water" story.

I have seen this movie at least 200 times over the years. I just bought a copy of it to watch again. As far as I'm concerned, it's a great movie about a great woman. It's about a family with a father that can't adjust to his life. Right from the beginning, you can see where this is going and I give Liz Gavin all the credit in the world for raising their kids.If my husband, after many years of marriage, announces that the best time of his life was when we weren't married, would be wearing my foot in an uncomfortable place. She is incredibly naive and complacent in her life. But she has an inner strength she never knew she had. Her and her husband plan to move to Australia with the kids, who are all against it. When the time comes to leave, Sam finds every excuse not to go. From here on, it's a battle to succeed. As for the previous comment about her singing a baby lamb to sleep, you lost the point of the movie. That is an extremely poignant part of the movie and shows what Liz Gavin is about. This is based on a true story and I admire the courage of Liz Gavin. I highly recommend this movie to everyone and I hope you'll try to locate it to watch.

saw this earlier & could not stop laughing! Linda Lavin swings a sheep over head and lets go of it! It nearly flies into the barn wall but her ugly son catches it mid-air. What a hoot!

Overall it is a pretty good TV movie. Lavin gives good accent but the children are annoying. I'd tend to think she'd be a little wider in the hips after delivering ELEVEN kids. Yikes!

I grew up on a farm. We raised sheep, showed them in 4-H (as well as hogs and cattle). This movie is very authentic in how it handles the situations with the sheep and it is based on a true story! Also, when she swings the lamb over her head - - we have had to do that! What you are trying to do it get the lamb to breath and with the lamb having afterbirth all over it, yes it is slippery and could slip out of your hands this is just one of many life or death situations you come across when raising animals. It isn't easy but when you love animals, farming and truly enjoy it - you do what you have to do. Also, her hips wouldn't be wide because some of the children have been adopted. If you haven't seen this movie buy it. It is based on true to life experience, any mother can relate to it, they did an excellent job with this movie!