The Lightkeepers

What a relief to see a movie that was actually "made," not "digitally processed," although Blythe Danner still looks so terrific, it's tempting to believe she had help. Maybe Richard Dreyfuss puts on a "Kap'n Karl" growl a little more than necessary as an irascible woman-hater lighthouse keeper; but Tom Wisdom as his assistant-with-a-secret, with a Michael York voice coming out of a Keanu Reeves face, keeps up with him. The film manages--no easy feat in this day and age--to be a charming, sweet (maybe a tad too much), simple story about people, not special effects, without descending to the TV movie level. It's not an action-packed roller coaster ride, nobody farts or masturbates, nobody's naked, and nobody explodes, so it may confuse modern moviegoers (at least the ones under 30). But "The Lightkeepers," in its own modest way, has its own rewards, not the least of which being a rare--if short--screen appearance by Julie Harris toward the end.

I don't normally watch movies like this. I watched it because I liked Tom Wisdom in Dominion. This is a sweet story of two men (one older, one younger) who have lost themselves and lost love and find it all again. The costumes are beautiful, especially the women's dresses, and the setting is beautiful and the various accents are well done.

I probably enjoyed this movie so much, because I'm an avid reader of old books and recognized this story the minute I saw it. This movie plot was taken almost verbatim, including most of the character names and main events from an old Cape Cod story by author Joseph C. Lincoln. The book was titled "The Women Haters" and the original copy-write was 1904 . A few years ago another one of his more popular novels "Captain Erie" was made into a movie called "The Golden Boys" in which David Carradine played the leading role. It's great seeing some of the old books enjoyed by a younger generation even if only in a briefer form as a movie.

Take an old book "The Women Haters" and apparently faithfully reproduce it to film (or video?) (or dsc?) and you use actors that know how to act, enjoy their job, and give to the audience and you have THE LIGHTKEEPERS. I for one was so happy to see Mr. Dreyfus and Miss Danner in something again. Also Mamie Gummer, daughter of Meryl Streep...I knew I was in good hands. I had not had the pleasure of knowing Mr. Wisdoms work before but will certainly be looking for him, now. The movie was NOT of today, it was slow and pleasant and sweet with a bit of mystery and romance. My cup of tea! A nice change from what we usually see these days. Oh and of course the setting was lovely!

virtue - the cast. but it is not a great virtue. Richard ZDreyfuss is a kind of Santa in a strange story. the script is a tunnel without beginning or end.the Hallmark atmosphere and the slices of Summer dream are not convincing. it is a nice film. but expectations are not very small. and the result is an easy - amusing tale about love as turkey in which ingredients are too many.an ordinary ring with a precious stone. is it enough ? not exactly. in fact, it is a yellow picture , with few nostalgic words, in which faces, houses, light are absent. and imagination is the instrument to create reality of that time. sure, details are good thing. but a bath costume or a happy end are not reasonable price.