Saint Maybe (1998)

It’s sentimental, ridiculously long and only occasionally funny

The acting in this movie is really good.

True to its essence, the characters remain on the same line and manage to entertain the viewer, each highlighting their own distinctive qualities or touches.

It's a good bad... and worth a popcorn matinée. While it's easy to lament what could have been...

BEWARE OF FALSE REVIEWS & REVIEWERS. SOME REVIEWERS HAVE ONLY ONE REVIEW TO THEIR NAME. NOW WHEN ITS A POSITIVE REVIEW THAT TELLS ME THEY WERE INVOLVED WITH THE MOVIE. IF ITS A NEGATIVE REVIEW THEN THEY MIGHT HAVE A GRUDGE AGAINST THE FILM . NOW I HAVE REVIEWED OVER 200 HOLIDAY FILMS. I HAVE NO AGENDA. I AM HONESTIn this film a 19 year old college student Ian gets roped into babysitting his brothers kids once again. He gets very mad that his sister in law promises to be home at a certain time and she isn't. This makes IAN very mad because he just missed an important date with his girlfriend who he hardly see's. They both go to desperate colleges. He was kind enough to babysit however he feels disrespected when his sister in law ruins his plans. Once his brother comes home after work he see's that IAN is babysitting. Ian tells his brother things he believes about his wife including the fact that he thinks she is cheating on him. The two brothers have a minor fight and IAN'S brother ends up in an auto accident and dies. A short time later Ian's sister in-laws overdoses and dies. Ian is racked with guilt now because he feels responsible for the deaths of both people. A short time later he drops out of school to become the guardian of his brothers children and step children. I enjoyed this film. The ending was not what I expected because I did want something more elaborate. The acting is fine in this and the pacing of the film is very solid. I really would not calls this "A Christmas Film" but it is about having faith. The message in this film I do support. Its about making amends and saving yourself in the process.

This is a very poor attempt to translate a marvelous book to the screen. Hallmark should have made this a multi-parter, and definitely should have left elements of the book alone. "Saint Maybe" is a very long book, and may well be Tyler's masterpiece. Condensing it into a "movie of the week" format dilutes the vivid images painted by her. "The Accidental Tourist" was much better and kept as faithful to the book as possible. If you haven't read "Saint Maybe" you should. Once you do you'll love it and ask "why did Hallmark change so much?!?" I was very disappointed. The actors try very hard to win us over, but the script is just too weak. Perhaps someone will attempt to make another of her books into a movie with better results.

This is a story of a man's search for forgiveness. A young man gives up his plans for the future in order to raise his orphaned nieces and nephew. Mary-Louise Parker is wonderful(as usual). She is the reason to watch this movie. Blythe Danner and Edward Herrman are also two of my favorite actors. I ran across this one evening and decided to watch based on the cast. I was hooked right away but I felt there was too much missing from the story. I had to read the book. I read the book the following weekend and found that the movie was actually quite faithful to the book just lacking the detail that you only get from a book. All in all, I would recommend this movie (and also the book).

This movie started out so good and really had me hooked but then I got confused,then outright lost.The movie starts out about a very close family who've gathered at Christmas and the oldest brother has his girlfriend with him and proclaims they're getting married.The wife who already has two kids acts very spacey.Next scene the couple has had a baby but only been married 7 months which the younger brother tells anyone who'll listen that it's not his brother's baby.Where is all this going? The movie is about the younger brother(Ian) and how he ends up living his life after tragedy in the family but it takes it's time getting there.Ian tells his brother how his wife is cheating on him,that the baby's not his and how she is always getting babysitters during the day and coming home late,not to mention always having fancy clothes he didn't buy.The brother knows his wife has a problem but only sees the good in her. He drops Ian off after he finishes trashing his wife and so angry on the inside he crashes into a tree killing himself.The wife is unable to function or work and also commits suicide by taking pills.Ian the only one who knows why the two are dead thinks it's his fault since he finds out the wife's problem was that she was a kleptomaniac not cheating on her husband.Ian who was in college and had a steady girl keeps seeing the couple and after going into a storefront church and confessing what he's done dedicates his life to the kids.The family can't find any relatives and his parents are up in age so he drops out of college and raises the 3 kids and becomes a devout church member.I was very confused as to the era.It seemed to start in the 50's yet at the wife's grave a woman was in a very short mini skirt.The children grew to adulthood but yet Ian looked the same as he did in college except for one part where he looked older then back to young Ian.At the end he meets a woman but she seems to be in the 80's while everybody else seems to be in the early 70's.She comes into the movie out of nowhere the barely have 2 scenes together and he end up telling everyone he's marrying her as the kids are established in their lives.Oh yeah oldest girl has a doll when she's little that has a piece of paper she hides from everyone.The woman Ian marries is a house clutter remover and the doll ends up on top of the trash.He sees it pulls the paper out reads an address on it and ends up finding the kids real grandmother on their father's side.She has always hated the kids mother and her son is dead also from an accident.He realizes it was his destiny to raise the kids in a loving home as she didn't want them anyway. I give it 5/10 for touching my heart but the movie doesn't flow smoothly.