The Russell Girl

This movie is not in any way a romance. There is a couple, but their relationship is not the focus of the movie.

This movie is mostly depressing until near the end. The viewer slowly learns about the tragedy that has taken control of Sarah's life and of her neighbor Lorainne. There are snippets, but it takes a while before the viewer actually sees what happened.

The focus of the movie is dealing with loss and blame. Sarah and Lorainne are bound together in loss. Sarah has recently been diagnosed with leukemia and dwells on that as a kind of Karma or punishment for her part in the tragedy. After the event, she left town to avoid dealing. Lorainne has locked herself away in a kind of self imposed isolation from everyone. It is implied that prior to Sarah's return to town, Lorainne was "doing better" with time, but Sarah's appearance is a setback.

This is where things began to seem odd to me. Despite obviously being unwanted there, Sarah tries to hang out with Lorainne, using excuses to facilitate it. Her purpose seems unclear, but perhaps she is seeking absolution. Lorainne's husband tells Sarah to stay away. Events conspire to bring things to a head, and even some of these developments seemed odd.

In the end, the movie makes its statement about forgiveness and blame. There is also a great deal of courage in one of the characters, that to me, came up out of nowhere.

There are excellent things about this movie, especially the main themes. The acting is mostly good. I deducted a few stars because: 1) the depressing atmosphere pervades most of the movie. I have seen other movies by Hallmark that went deep into the subject of loss with a much lighter tone. Two Turtle Doves stands out as a movie I think of for the subject of loss. 2) I just didn't buy the way Sarah and Lorraine interacted, especially before the turning point. I'm also not sure the movie gave enough explanation for the reason behind that turning point. It's tough to fit everything into a 90 minute movie, but maybe they could have left out some of the story about Sarah and her high school ex.

I'm sure many people will find this movie compelling. In that sense I recommend it. I'm just not sure I want to watch it again.

Sarah Russell (Amber Tamblyn) is an associate buyer at Macy's and aspires to get into medical school. She finds out that she has leukemia. She's going home to tell her parents (Tim DeKay, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio). She holds off when her parents tell her that she got into Northwestern University. She reconnects with old boyfriend Evan Carroll. There is something dark in the past with her next door neighbors Lorainne Morrissey (Jennifer Ehle) and Howard Morrisey (Henry Czerny). She wonders if her leukemia is karma for past deeds.

The movie is a little too precious with the secret. This is not really a mystery movie. I'm fine with holding off the reveal but it lasts about 10-20 minutes too long. It gets a little annoying that the movie won't say it out loud. Tamblyn delivers a very compelling performance. It's a great little movie after the reveal with Sarah struggling to connect with Lorainne. Jennifer Ehle also gives a great full performance. It never gets too surprising and the movie is a traditional tear-jerker.

I wasn't looking for this movie. I was on Hallmark looking for something lighthearted and refreshing. I started watching this and it was so deep and the acting was superb! Someone should have won some type of an award for this. I'm an acting critic and this is some of the best acting I've seen on this very underrated movie.

If the news is not good ...

Of COURSE the news isn't good. This is a Hallmark Hall of Fame production.

Sarah Russell is a buyer for Macy's in Chicago. She wanted to go to medical school, but so far she has not been accepted anywhere. But now she may not get the chance to go to medical school anyway. She has Acute Myelogenous Leukemia, and while it can be treated, she needs to act quickly.

Sarah goes home, since she has vacation time coming. Once she has returned to her hometown, she meets former boyfriend Evan, who works at his father's gas station. Evan is actually an investment banker in Dallas, but when his father had a stroke, he had to come home temporarily to help out, doing what he could in his other job by means of technology. After a minor accident, Sarah has an excuse to spend time with Evan, who can do the necessary repairs to her car.

When Sarah returns to her parents' house, Lorraine from across the street sees her, goes inside and tells her husband "The Russell Girl" is back, in a tone that makes it appear Sarah was part of some scandal years ago. Lorraine, who restores furniture and related items, soon becomes depressed and bitter, and almost incapable of functioning because of migraines. She won't even watch her teenage son playing in an important baseball game.

Sarah's parents are happy to see her, and they have a telephone message she believes they would rather not have heard. No, it's not that. She actually has been accepted to Northwestern's medical school. Sarah can't give them the bad news now. There may be more to her refusal to say anything, though.

The movie has important messages about forgiveness and dealing with guilt. Amber Tamblyn and Jennifer Ehle both give superior performances. Ehle has the greater challenge because of her wide range of moods, but she also delivers some unexpected moments. Tamblyn also has to show a wide range. Fortunately, a movie that could have been quite depressing has some pleasant moments and even some humor. For example, the girl at the karaoke bar would never make it past Simon Cowell.

Young children may be upset by one scene (although the references to cancer would be enough to discourage them anyway), but the event is critical and only implied (the tragic result is mentioned explicitly several times). Brief flashbacks, and one longer one, look like a World Book Encyclopedia illustration of one type of color blindness. It is the long flashback that is the key to the whole movie.

It was worthy of the name Hallmark.

This is one of the best movies I've seen in years. While the "Matrix" crowd may consider the plot "slow," I consider it natural and unhurried. This movie rests on its WRITING and PERFORMANCE, not fancy graphics, nudity, or profanity. You can watch this show with your 3-year-old.

Two families are caught in a very plausible conflict. There is a lot of judgment, anger, blame, self-loathing, and fear involved. The conflict rises to an almost intolerable level, but then is eventually resolved.

Like many real-life conflicts and wounds, the Russell girl walls herself off in unhealthy denial and self-judgment. The family doesn't help either, with the mother blinding herself to the depth of her daughter's guilt.

True to the self-righteous, self-justified attitude of humans in their worst light, the antagonist (Jennifer Ehle) had deepened the wound for many years, but with the artful interplay of emotions and relationships woven by Blotevogel, the wound is finally punctured and healed.

My hat is off to Jill Blotevogel, Jeff Bleckner, Amber Tamblyn, and all the people involved in making this excellent film.