Mary & Tim

As much as I enjoyed Mel Gibson in TIM, I love this remake. Don't expect to see Candice Bergen's Murphy Brown. Here she is a dignified, gentle, caring woman. I will buy this movie on home video or DVD if its ever available. In fact, I'm always on the lookout for it.

"Mary and Tim" is in a lot of ways, better than the 1979 movie "Tim". One thing to note, anyone who thinks Justine is hostile in this movie (or Dawnie in the 1979 version), would be surprised by the book.

Tims' family is a aware of Marys' age in this version well than before in the book or other movie. It is a cuase of tension, but not the hostility in the two prior cases.

One difference is that this version is shot in California, as opposed to Australia. Another important version is that Mary Horton is a widow, as opposed to the two prior versions, where she was never married. As well, Mary talks about her departed mother, while in the novel, she never knew her parents.

Also, in this version, Tim is more emotionally empowered. It is him who asks Mary to marry him. Not some outsider. He also is shown to have a lot of insight into what Mary wants, well before Mary is willing to admit it to herself.

After Tim proposes marriage, before Mary responds, his father asks if he and Mary have had sex. Tim is shown as knowing about sex, although I will not say if they do have sex before marriage.

It is a very good version. I always enjoy seeing it.

I have been a fan of Candice Bergen for years including her top-rated TV show, Murphy Brown, but I was not prepared for her stellar performance in Mary and Tim a little film I never heard of before. I was certainly familiar with the original movie from which Mary and Tim was taken with Mel Gibson and Piper Laurie - an Australian film part of the Australian New Wave Film Movement. Yet Candice Bergen seems to reinvent herself for Mary and Tim showing such depth and emotion that I was really floored since I had always regarded her as something beautiful to look at and amusing. But in Mary and Tim it's like I had never seen Candice Bergen before she was so new and so different and so remarkable. As always I could not take my eyes off her even when the young stud was parading around in hardly anything at all. That actor, Thomas McCarthy, is excellent and convincing but he's no match for the way Bergen dominates the film and the story. She is a gem and a treasure for achieving what she does in this film.

MARY AND TIM is a remake that out-does the original. The characters have pure motives and there is never a hint of impropriety. Candice and Tom are convincing and attractive in the roles of Mary and Tim. I keep hoping to find this movie available on home video.

Candice Bergen plays a contented 50-ist widow settled into her life as a single, when a slightly learning-disabled younger hunk careens into her life as the butt of a practical joke, damaging her garden. He turns out to be a talented gardener, and starts his magic on her garden, and on her. Tim's super-achiever sister marries into a wealthy family, who are, frankly, embarrassed at having a "retard" in the family. Mary (Candice Bergen) teaches Tim to read, and Tim gradually starts to experience grown-up feelings toward Mary. Thomas McCarthy is very convincing as Tim, and he plays the part with ease, and naturally. Candice Bergen is, and always has been, one of my favorite actresses, who's striking beauty has stayed with her into maturity. I saw this on the Hallmark Channel & really enjoyed the simple plot and emotional dynamics. A bit of a tear-jerker, but nice, relaxing entertainment.