Carolina Moon

Fantastic portrayal of a Nora Roberts novel which had me spellbound from the very beginning of this film to the very end. This film captures your attention on two very young girls swimming in a lake and one of the girls, Claire Forlani,(Tori),"Hooligans", has the ability to see visions in her head that tell her deep dark things that have happened or going to happen. Oliver Hudson,(Cade Lavelle) and Josie Davis,(Faith Lavelle) both give great supporting roles along with Jacqueline Bisset,( Margaret). There is some torrid love scenes involving Faith Lavelle along with a few laughs and bad child abuse scenes which happened to Tori when she was very young. This is a first Class Nora Roberts TV film and is definitely not your routine television entertainment. FIRST CLASS Enjoy

Once it started rolling I forgot this is a TV movie, until I chanced upon the IMDb page and started reading the comments. I'm very surprised to see a few very negative comments about this film. It may not be the perfect supernatural thriller or mystery story, but it's got great acting and some beautiful actresses, which let's face it, does help, and I'm not talking about supermodel, centerfold kinds of looks. (For those interested in men, they aren't bad either. Well, most of them.) It is of course about a psychic woman, but only touches upon the supernatural and does not run away with it. It has a villain, a serial killer, but keeps you guessing at who he, or she, may be. And unlike so many stories set in America's Bible Belt, you can't tell the good and bad guys based on their religiosity, their gods. It does confront, somewhat in passing, many grave societal issues, including child abuse, religious violence, gender inequality, and others, without being overly dramatic or moralizing.

This movie is a breath of fresh air, made with care not only about the writing, the dialog, but also a care to avoid the clichés that make most TV movies so pedestrian and predictable.

I never read the book, so it could well be superior. All I know is, Carolina Moon ain't bad at all.

First, let me state that I have no idea who Nora Roberts is. So the book may have been great, but the movie isn't.

I have spent my entire life living in the Peidmont region of NC. I have never heard southern accents as ridiculous as the ones in this movie. I have lived in two small NC towns and Charlotte and Raleigh. On occasion, you will meet people with a strong southern accent, but I have never encountered a town where everyone talks like a bad imitation of Gone with the Wind.

In response to Gore_Won from the atheist community. Your comments reveal more about your warped psyche than it does about the movie. If we were to stretch our imaginations and pretend that there is anything realistic in this movie - which there isn't - then the truth is that bad people such as Tory's father will always find some justification for their actions. The author chose religion as a counter to Tory's supernatural abilities. Your supposition that "the true character of the Gospels" directs a man to beat his daughter is about the most perverse and misinformed interpretation I have ever heard. Before you start spouting off about the Gospels, maybe you should read them first.

Back to the movie. The dialog is flat, unnatural, and unbelievable most of the time. In particular, many of the things that Kade said to Tory are inappropriate and do not match the mood, context, or way they are said.

The "exciting twist" at the end of the movie is lame, predictable, and lacks any credibility. Some have also claimed that Jacqueline Bisset does a wonderful job in this movie, but the truth is that the bitter mother character is also a stale, predictable, one-dimensional character. Is that Bisset's fault? I don't know.

If you have a choice between watching this movie and a twenty year old rerun of the Muppet Show, I recommend the Muppet Show.

I love movies that do not sing the praise of religion, where the true character of the gospels are laid bare for all to see. Rather than show us churchgoers who live and let live, Carolina Moon shows the vile side of religion, which is as essential to the character of faith as the sunny bright side illogic usually shows.

The abusive father is one way to look as patriarchal religions, as is the subservient mother. This movie shows both. Not just another TV movie, Carolina Moon develops its characters and its plot. It's no masterpiece, but if the plot is not gripping enough, the girls make it alright.

Oh, and who fixes up the dog? Sorry, not a god.

No way did this feel like the usual TV movie. This movie was so exciting. And the directing wasn't like TV. It was like a movie. Everything moved so fast and you could feel the heat and the sunshine. And acting was just awesome Faith and Tory and Wade and Cade, they were all amazing, and the best part is the director and the writer actually made it funny the way Nora Roberts is when you read her. I loved the part where a certain character (don't want to do any spoilers here) got in a car crash and Tory was seeing it in her head--awesome, I practically jumped out of my chair it was so tense. Ten stars!! I can't wait to see it again. Nora Roberts should be proud.