Anne of Green Gables: A New Beginning

I had heard this was being made and have just seen it for the first time. Kevin Sullivan should be mortified, but I doubt that he has the good taste to know it. The writing is dreadful, the rape of the original story and characters appalling, the abuse of an iconic Canadian story tragic. And on top of that, the quality of the film-making is and insult to the term 'amateur'. It's painful.

I have heard tales of the legendary hubris of Mr. Sullivan but this falls below even the lowest expectation. The directing is so bad he manages to make well known accomplished American actors unwatchable. The sentimental posturing of Barbara Hershey is laughable and Shirley MacLaine looks like she's checking for exits. I guess everyone needs to top up the retirement fund, even legends. Fair enough. But what do a couple of ageing American stars know about Canada or the history of a maritime island most Americans never heard of? What do they have to do with the heart or memory of this story? Their rhythm is wrong. Hollywood plunked itself down in PEI farmland to tell them who they were. Ridiculous. Offensive.

Kevin Sullivan, whatever glutinous ambitious distortions and abuses you have flung across the memory of this story, you could hardly have done worse than this piece of insulting exploitive drivel. I find it difficult to imagine anyone in Canada will ever watch anything you are attached to again. Shame on any Canadian agency for funding you. I commend the past cast members for eschewing this abortion of a script and certainly you as a 'director'.

Hard enough to get Canadian stories told...but this is criminal.

How sad to ruin a great story with a series like this! Do not see it, if you have good memories of the Anne of Green Gables tv-series or the books!

I feel like it's all about the money at this point. Again, the magic from the first two is gone. Visually, it's a nice film to look at. I loved seeing Green Gables itself again and happy we got to see more of it than part three. But in my own opinion it's a step down yet again. Three was a let down and so is this one. They should have stopped after Anne 2; and left Anne and Gil on the bridge. I would have preferred to leave it up to the imagination than having this film. Where is the movie with Anne and Gil having children together? Anne fans deserved better. After viewing this installment, I can't believe how anyone who loved the first two movies would ever accept this film. It wasn't what I imagined at all and trying to tie this in simply to make a buck is awful. Thanks, Kevin. I liked three better than this. This film visually is an improvement over Anne 3 but come on, Diana and Rachel fans will be disappointed for one thing! The smartest people in the whole development of Anne '4' are the original actors who decided to stay OUT of it. Especially Megan Follows. You'll always be Anne to me.

Remember when you watched Anne The Continuing Story and thought "well this is kind of dumb, and totally goes against the books, and pretty much common sense, and those continuity issues of their ages, and on and on"? Well that was kind of like Star wars 8 and you thought it destroyed everything. Then came this new movie and you thought there might be some sort of redemption...but just like Star wars 9, it turned out to be an even bigger dumpster fire, and it spat in the face of the previous story. I'm guessing 90% of this movie is basically false and impossible. I was kind of expecting Anne in this story to come out of the shower at the end like Bobby Ewing and the whole thing was just a dream.

I enjoyed the scenes from Anne's childhood more than the 1945 scenes. I didn't like going back and forth.

Hannah Endicott-Douglas did a fine job for the most part, making young Anne such a delight, though at times she could be overly enthusiastic and I occasionally found myself agreeing with Violetta about how annoying she was. But that didn't last. Such an intelligent child, and so often positive despite what she had been through.

Rachel Blanchard, who I know mostly from her perky "Clueless" character, started out so stoic and proper, but turned warm and loving later on.

Shirley Maclaine did her usual good job--not necessarily likable at first, but over time it appears Anne has a good influence on most of those she comes in contact with.

Kyra Harper was a standout as the woman living at an abandoned mill who helped Anne from time to time. She was one of the few who really showed concern, when Anne was seeing mostly hostility from those taking care of her.

Bernhard Behrens also did a good job as a man who in today's society would be seen as eccentric. Back then, he was someone who needed to be kept locked away from society. and yet Anne saw value in him.

As for the 1945 scenes, I suppose they were pleasant enough. Nothing to write home about. Barbara Hershey has a nice smile and pretty hair, but she never quite made me like her. I'm not clear on who the man in her life was, but he added a lot. The efforts to make a play about her life a success didn't interest me too much.

Anne's search for details of her past was hard to watch, but at least some of her efforts had good results. The movie ended happily for me, even if not everything could be resolved.

This is a good family film, though some of the adversity Anne has to experience may not be appropriate for the youngest children. Anyone who can handle Dickens is probably ready to see this.

My primary complaints about this movie were based on the fact that, although Anne loved Green Gables, we never got to see why. We saw only her life after World War II and her difficult childhood. Later I found out this was a sequel. I have no experience with Anne of Green Gables, so I don't fully understand the hostility over this movie.

But if you're new to the character, this may be a good introduction.