Back to the Secret Garden (2000)

Sorry, this movie sucks

Let's be realistic.

There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.

In 1946, after her husband becomes British ambassador to the United States, Lady Mary Craven must leave the Misslethwaite orphanage in England. She puts Martha in charge, although Martha doesn't feel quite ready. Part of Martha's duty will be to keep the key that opens the door to the secret garden Martha's late husband started. The garden is not in the best of shape, and Martha cannot see how Mary found the door when Mary opens it for her.When Mary leaves, she announces that Penelope will be able to go the United States to have an operation she can only get there, and that an orphan from the United States will be chosen to take Penelope's place while she is gone.Once in the United States, Mary visits an orphanage outside Washington, D.C. and finds several children interested in going to England. But Mary chooses Lizzie, a loner who loves taking care of the garden.After Martha is on her own, she looks and looks and can only see ivy covering the stone wall. So she has an opening made for a new door.Lizzie arrives at Misslethwaite and immediately learns to break the rules. She loves the secret garden and sneaks in, and she discovers that door Martha can't find from the outside. The animals in the garden love Lizzie and gather around her. Martha soon realizes Lizzie was meant to care for the garden and puts her in charge of the key.There is the usual boy-girl romance and love-triangle story one might expect here, and more breaking of rules, with appropriate consequences.The big question: will Lizzie be able to make the garden what it once was?I probably watched a movie called "The Secret Garden" but don't have any memory of it. Whether it was one of the great classics I can't say, but that's what I recall. This sequel wouldn't rank that high, but it is still very good. and if I can't remember the original, I have no problems with anything that might not be consistent with that movie.Joan Plowright gives her usual wonderful performance. There are many other very good performances here. Camilla Belle starts off slow but eventually shows talent matching that of the others.This is a movie kids can watch, but it has plenty of adult content (the good kind, meaning intelligent writing) which their parents can enjoy too. In fact, one doesn't even need to have kids to watch this.I am curious as to whether some of the expressions used by the kids were actually in people's vocabularies back in 1946. Nevertheless, today's kids will like hearing them.It's a good family film.

I love the positive aspects of this film. It was a pleasure to see that Hallmark had taken a chance at moving on from the original... and doing a wonderful job.This film gives both young and old the idea of continuity. The restoration of the garden by yet another child's faith is something to be respected.One could see some of the similarities of Lizzie to Dickon from the very first glimpse of the child... and like Mary before her, Lizzie had to 'steal' the garden before she was able to do good with it.Like the first one, it will remain on my favorite 'watch list' for a long time to come.

This is a sequel though not one most dreadful. It was better than I expected, but I expected garbage, so that's not saying too much. The story is basically this: It's 1946 and Lady Mary goes to America to find a little girl to send back to Misselthwaite which has become a home for orphans, inexplicably. The little girl Lizzie conveniently loves working in gardens and sets about finding out why the garden is inexplicably dying. Mary doesn't return to America with Lizzie, inexplicably. We never find out where Archie Craven is or if he'd dead. And is Will Weatherstaff Ben's son or what? I'm an avid fan of The Secret Garden and I own 4 movie versions of it and have seen the Brodway show, not to mention I own a couple of copies of the novel (and the abysmal "sequel" by Susan Moody). That said, there are a few good things about this film: the lead actress Camilla Belle plays her part with sincerity and Florence Hoath (from Fairy Tale) does a great job as her friend at the "school". I quite enjoyed all of the (too few) scenes with a grown Mary Lennox (now Mary Craven, having married her first cousin, Colin. I doubt this would have happened in the early 1900's -- it was already 1911 when the children met. They must have been at least 16 or 17 before marrying which puts them at 1917 or so and during WW1. I'm just not buying it!) The main problem is with Martha Sowerby. She has utterly, completely and mind bogglingly inexplicably lost her Yorkshire accent! I despise how Joan Plowright plays the character (so much like she plays ALL of her characters). Martha could not have grown into that woman! It's like Mary Lennox only backwards. The film is set in 1946, Mary should be about 45. Martha looks at least 60. That means when Mary was 10, Martha was 25. Not buying that, either. The writer killed off Dickon in the war (isn't that convenient?). We see Colin only fleetingly. The show focuses much too much on Martha, who is so unlike the Martha we know from the books that we wonder if this impostor chopped her up and buried her in the garden and that's why it's dying! There's also the just-add-venom antagonist in the form of a Harry Potter clone with a superiority complex. And what's with the magical doors -- one minute it's there and the next it's not and there a new inexplicable "rule" that one needs the key to find the door or something. I might also mention the anachronisms. At one point Lizzie yells to a taunting meanie, "Fine! Be that way!" Did they say that in 1946? It's not a bad film for those who don't know and love The Secret Garden, but for really big fans, I think it's just another disappointment. I'm still waiting for a proper sequel in which Mary marries Dickon. Everyone knows she loves Dickon, not Colin!

Michael Tuchner's follow-up to The Secret Garden is a far less inspired outing than it's 1993 predecessor, but never the less still passes muster thanks to some cutesy performances and even cuter scenarios, courtesy cast and filmmaker. As with most low-key sequels, Back to the Secret Garden follows the path of a new bunch of characters, all, of course, experiencing the joy of the titular garden. Lizzie, orphaned American lass, finds herself laying her bed in the same manor where the events of the first film occurred. Miss Sowerby (Joan Plowright), is the be all and end all of the said garden, but under her watchful eye, Lizzie discovers the said place, a place of faith, courage and determination. Back to The Secret Garden, like the first film, has some lovely messages in there for the littlies. While at the same time, giving Mum's a break from that well worn VHS of the original to put something else in the machine for a while. Follow this path for further inspiration.