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Visitors Review

bluestorm5 2012-05-25 13:34:34

A Good Watch!

I just finished watching Midnight Bayou and was very pleasantlysurprised. I very thoroughly enjoyed the characters of Lina and herGrandmother Odette, the supernatural twist, although fairlypredictable, was still intense to watch - and of course the LouisianaBayou backdrop. There are two time lines playing out in this movie, andI felt it was done in the least confusing way possible, as you can veryeasily see the difference in decor and dress of each time line. Whatwould have made this a bit more enjoyable for me would have been a bitof character development in the past time line, as well as a bit moreromance in both time lines. But that isn't really the focus of this,it's about soul mates reaching across time and finding peace - it'sabout something deeper than romance. Jerry O'Connell doesn't do it forme as a romantic lead - he's got far too much comedy about hisdemeanour, however the character playing Lina was extremely sexy,sultry and sassy - just the kind of woman you'd picture out in thesteamy bayou's of Louisiana - she did a terrific job with hercharacter. My last thought to any potential viewers is to not expectNotebook quality romance, this is a TV Movie, and I say that with nomalice intended - it should just be appreciated for what it is, and forthe story it tells. You'll get romance, a bit of humour, suspense,history and a few thrills - Enjoy!

2012-05-24 23:34:55

Big Fan

This review is from: Midnight Bayou (DVD) If you like to see the past and present come together. Watch this movie, a little haunting and trying to fix pass mistakes and falling in love.

millicentsambajon 2012-05-21 03:38:47

book vs movie

what we have to understand is that sometimes what works in books doesnot necessarily mean that it works on the big screen.. this moviedeviates consequently from the book.. i am a Nora Roberts fan and i dounderstand that many fans like me did not enjoy this movie very much,maybe because there were many alteration of the story.. but we have totake note that the plot remains truthful from its origin.. the theme ofgirl meets boy afraid to fall in love because of all the pain she wentthrough, mother being the main villain, same as the mother-in law hundreds of years ago.. and of course solving the mystery of one ofthe heroine's disappearance.. all in all it was an entertainingmovie... one should just have an open mind and feel what the directorwants us to feel.. be transported in Lucian and Abigail's time.. feeltheir love for one another and feel the distaste and hate of Josephineand jealousy and envy of Julian towards Abigail. at the present time,Lina's apprehension to give all her heart to declan was devastating.. ican feel her pain. also she was torn about her mother. hating her forleaving and walking all over her through out her life but at the sametime longing for the love a mother should give her child. and of courselet us not forget the ever loving, supporting and mystic grandmother...i congratulate the director, the cast and crew for bringing thesecharacters alive... i wouldn't have them any other way... 

2012-05-20 16:29:27

Just a great movie!!

This review is from: Midnight Bayou (DVD) Just really love this movie....a little bit of everything....comedy, romance, intrigue and the New Orleans setting is great. Plus great cast.

2012-05-17 00:43:37

Definitely the Best Nora Roberts Movie...

I actually really liked this one, suspensefull, interesting and compelling. I would recommend this movie over any of the other Nora Roberts Movie.

2012-05-16 15:42:23

Likeable!

This movie is based on a Nora Roberts novel, I believe of the same title. It is set in modern day New Orleans, although, there are some antebellum elements as the two lead characters encounter spirits of the past. The lead romantic interest is a Boston lawyer who decides to move into an antebellum mansion down South. And the girl is a descendant of the original family who lived in "the big house" back in the day. Her heritage seems to haunt her and that of her family. As her Mother is very much troubled. Eventually things get resolved, but not before some spooky events take place! The ending leaves the fate of the Mother unresolved which is one of my main complaints of the movie. Also, there is some mild cussing and a very passionate love scene that I could have done without.

2012-05-15 12:34:54

Past Life Regression with a Twist.

I just got through watching this on Lifetime and, not the hugest Nora Roberts fan, I was impressed with this film adaptation. Not only was it a good made-for-TV story, but the cast was actually TALENTED! I don't believe in reincarnation but, a lot like the movie Dead Again, I found the story line riveting and was glued to it in both a romantic and haunted house way. It was a cool twist to have the romantic leading man once having been a woman and vice versa, because that was a curve ball definitely not foreseen. Faye Dunaway was cool as spooky grandma; also, there are some beautiful shots of New Orleans that are virtually like an appealing travel brochure. If you want to get a man to watch something ordinarily considered a chick flick, pick this movie out. You may find that, for once, he's not cringing at the end.

2012-05-15 02:50:20

Kind of odd, but not too bad

This is certainly an odd movie. It is a romance/thriller - not particularly scary, but maybe not a date movie either. Much of the plot is driven by historical events and pseudo reincarnation. Despite that, the movie is somewhat entertaining. The plot takes a few interesting twists and turns. The acting is passable, if not great. Obviously, the whole ordeal requires you to suspend disbelief (spirits, love at first sight, etc.), but if you do this movie turns out to be not so bad.

2012-05-09 21:42:23

Great movie

This review is from: Midnight Bayou (DVD) This is my favorite Nora Roberts movie! It is wondefully done and is not to be missed. Whether or not you believe in haunted southern mansions or not, when you watch this movie, you have to consider the possiblity. What a beautiful southern mansion. The main charactors, have great actresses and actors behaind them. Bravo for the screen play!

2012-05-09 18:48:09

Midnight Bayou

Loved Nora Roberts' 2009 collection..all great movies!! Would recommend to anyone!!! Definitely a must see!!!

2012-05-04 20:24:13

MIDNIGHT BAYOU

This review is from: Midnight Bayou (DVD) I received my movie before the projected date and in excellent condition. I could not tell that it was used. I would definetly buy from this seller again.

sharpshooter_us 2012-05-04 13:34:42

Not only was the book better, but....

When will movie makers understand that people people from New Orleansdo not speak with that generic Gone With The Wind southern accent? Mostpeople in Louisiana do not sound like that these days. And referring toa "loaf" of cornbread, seriously? If you're going to throw in detailsbased on where the story is set, do better research. I realize that'skind of nitpicky, but it seems like too many movies and televisionshows get details about Louisiana and New Orleans wrong. Don't even getme started on True Blood. Love the show, but there's something inalmost every episode that makes me shake my head.Other than those problems, it was a fairly decent adaptation. Betterthan some of the other Nora Roberts movies.

seaelen 2012-05-01 13:23:26

Don't bother...

To anyone who read the book, you will not like this movie...to thosewho saw the movie without reading the book will not want to read it!!The characters were not well developed, Declan's background was limitedto one past relationship & there was hardly anything about his familyup north. Lina's character was limited as well and didn't show how sheachieved in her life from such difficulties. The relationship betweenDeclan & Lina did not seem genuine or believable.Faye Dunaway was spectacular as always, but sadly not used to her fullpotential.I'm sorry I watched it since I read the book. I'm not sure if I wouldhave liked it any better if I hadn't read it.

bkoganbing 2012-04-30 18:48:25

Bad Times On The Bayou

Young college student from Boston, Jerry O'Connell out on some hijinkswith friends in New Orleans comes across an old deserted mansion andsees the ghost of a woman there. He feels a real connection to her andthe house. Years later, now an attorney, O'Connell moves to the area tostart a law practice aimed at making insurance companies cough up whatthey owe flood victims. But it's more than business that Jerry's got onhis mind.He buys the old mansion and has plans to renovate and move in. But hesees some startling visions of the past around the turn of the lastcentury. He makes a connection with Lauren Stamile who also has aconnection to the house. She's the great great granddaughter of thewoman that Jerry finds out was murdered.Midnight Bayou is based on a Nora Roberts romance novel of the samename, though its characters could have been taken from the works ofTennessee Williams. Faye Dunaway plays the grandmother of Stamile whoraised her and she's fine in the part. The really evil one is theprostitute/junkie of a mother Marcelle Baer to Stamile. She is a badperson in the past and present.The film is a cut above most of the Lifetime network productions andrecommended for devotees of Nora Roberts.

2012-04-26 15:13:52

Definitely a chick - flick

This review is from: Midnight Bayou (DVD) I like all of the movies in the Nora Roberts collection! If you're a woman, it's almost sacriligious not to. I especially liked this one as it is set in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. That being said, the crazy "plot twist" of the male lead being reincarnated as a woman and the female lead being reincarnated as man, was a little off-putting -- hence, the four stars instead of five. Faye Dunnaway is superb as the spooky grandmother.

2012-04-26 08:05:25

LOVE OF MIDNIGHT BAYOU

THIS MOVIE IS A REALLY GOOD MOVIE, REGARDS OF WHAT THE LAST REVIEW WAS. IT IS A COMMON MOVIE LIKE THE REST BUT IT WAS PLAYED REALLY GOOD. IT DOES CATCH YOU EYE AND KEEPS YOU WATCHING IT. IT IS NOT LIKE THE A HAUNTING THAT YOU SEE GHOSTS OR ANYTHING LIKE THAT IT IS A GOOD PLOT

2012-04-19 23:33:42

Plantation Mystery

This review is from: Midnight Bayou (DVD) This is a great mystery/ghost story of the old South. It was filmed in New Orleans and at Oak Alley which is one of my favorite plantations on the Old River Road in Louisiana. The setting is New Orleans as it is now, still struggling to rebuild parts of the city since the Hurricane. The plot includes some of the history of life on the old plantations, intertwined with the lives of two modern lovers, with a real twist toward the end. The scenery is beautiful and the plot keeps your interest all the way through. After seeing the dvd myself, I invited my whole family over to see it. Very enjoyable Gothic suspense.

sol 2012-04-19 17:03:34

The Wheel Turns

***SPOILERS*** Ghost story by Nora Roberts about the deep south thatcovers some 120 years and at least four generations of the New OleansManet family.It's when young collage student Declan Fitzpartrick, celebrating FatTuesday, saw this ghostly young woman outside Manet Hall that he wasdetermined in buying the long deserted mansion. Some eight years laterand now having a very successful law practice in Boston Declan was nowable to buy his dream house feeling that he had some strange andunearthly connection to it. Declan, in hiding his real intentions,plans on using it a law center for the local's in the area. It's thenthat Declan meets Lina Simone who's descendants once owned Manet Halland whom he's connected to through the distant past-reincarnation-inways he, who doesn't believe in the supernatural, could never haveimagine!The supernatural angle in the movie is a bit hard to follow in thatwere given two entirely different stories to what happened with Lina'sgreat great great grandfather Lucian in the abandonment of him and isinfant daughter by his wife, Lina's great great great grandmother, theformer Manet Hall maid Abigail. We get most of this confusing storyfrom Lina's Grandma Odette who seems to have supernatural powersherself in her knowing things, especially about Declan, that she has noway of coming up with.The movie,almost by accident, really starts to heat up when Lina'sjunkie mom Marie Rose shows up from Huston needing quick cash,$10,000.00, to pay off her drug suppliers back in Texas. Trying toblackmail Declan, for her drug money, who has since fallen in love withher daughter-Lina-Marie Rose ends up getting into even deeper trouble,with the local sheriff, then she ever was with the drug dealers back inthe Lone Star State. It's Marie Rose guilt, that lead to her drugaddiction, which in fact activated the strange events that happenedover 100 years ago leading to Abigail's mysterious disappearance. What really saves the movie is the events that happened back then inthe late 1890's, at Manet Hall, that somehow found their way back tothe present-2009-with both Declan and Lina.****SPOILER ALERT****It'snot only the difference between some 120 years but the reality in whathappened back then as well as the change of identities of the majorcharacters in the film that set up the movies unexpected, to everyoneinvolved, as well as surprise ending!I may take an unlimited amount of time but the "Wheel ofLife"-Reincarnation- eventually makes amends for the mistakes made bythose of us,all of humanity, who are art of it. Even if it in the endit takes as much as a dozen lifetimes for it to eventually correctthem!

2012-04-11 05:50:16

nora roberts movies

This review is from: Midnight Bayou (DVD) hauntingly romantic. of course, it does not include everything from the book but it got the gist of it.

2012-04-10 16:41:59

suspense and love story

This was a great movie! I love a good ghost story, especially with a love story involved...and it was set in the South! It can't get much better! As a Southerner myself, I can't help but be drawn to any movie/story that takes place in the South. The chemistry between the two main characters is great! No, there is no Oscar winning performance and it is a little cliche at times, but it's a good Sunday afternoon, curl up on the couch kinda movie. I enjoyed it tremendously and can't wait for the dvd!