Genres

Visitors Review

2013-04-25 03:19:06

Resting Place

This review is from: Resting Place (DVD) The movie was slow moving and tedious. Fell asleep several times during the movie. As a matter of face, watched it with a couple friends and we all fell asleep at one point or another. Wouldn't recommend it

dwmorrison 2013-04-24 15:30:46

above average performances for all involved, especially G.D. Spradlin

As usual, Hallmark Hall of Fame has done an outstanding job of presentingthe factual events of the times. Our world is not always a pleasant place,but as these events show, truth and right generally prevail. I like thefactthat this experience was an education for all involved, especially JohnLithgow's character.

2013-04-24 10:35:02

Important Story

This review is from: Resting Place (DVD) Given the recent wars in Iraq, this story about an African-American soldier's family seeking to have him buried as a Vietnam Veteran in the town's cemetary is a very moving and powerful story, even though it is two decades old now. It is very sad, as well, that America continues to have to confront such issues as a result of the policy misadventures of those in Washington, while young men and women from small-town America who had so much promise in civilian life make the ultimate sacrifice. All the cast give excellent performances. As powerful and relevant as any contemporary account of war's impact on the lives of others at home, and on the survivors who return home deeply traumatised and forever changed by their exposure to conflict.

2013-04-24 04:20:54

Well Worth The Watch

Hard to believe that this fine film is shoveled into one of those Echo Bridge collections of 13 movies for $7.99 at the local supermarket, but it is.It recalls the racial tensions still alive in the early 70's, the agony of the Vietnam war and the effects of events on a platoon of soldiers through the fog of war. More than that revealed would be a spoiler.The story unwinds slowly, perhaps too slowly for today's audience, but I found it riveting. The actors were well chosen, understated, and the plot, the story itself was the real star.Nothing to offend children,so the whole family can watch.

2013-04-13 01:23:46

An intriguing story

This review is from: Resting Place (DVD) John Lithgow does a great job in the lead role, although I believe his past life, as it affected his current situation, could have been more developed. The story is painfully true and intriguing. I recommend this film for the story, the suspense and the superb acting by John Lithgow.

2013-04-12 15:22:47

Compassionate and caring.

This review is from: Resting Place (DVD) Great story line, showing how little we have progressed as human beings when it comes to prejudice.

2013-04-11 13:56:53

Great story told VERY well.

This review is from: Resting Place (DVD) a wonderful story told very well. One of my favorite videos. I saw it for the 1st time on Hallmark and tracked it down at Amazon. Great acting. Good story. Happy ending. Slight plot twist to keep it moving along. Great CD. John Alexander

2013-04-11 10:40:45

Resting Place

This review is from: Resting Place (DVD) Very touching,Had many sad things happening at the beginning ,about the color of our skin & how people thought and acted back in a later time but at the end it turn out to be good ,a movie one should watch,we all must know we are the children of GOD ,GOD see's no color ,he loves us all, men & women have serve their country and some have died ,they died fo us to protect us yes, the United States we live in they are our hero's ,don't matter what the color of their skin is ,God loves us, we must never forget we are brother's & sister's in God's eyes ,watch the movie will touch your heart to those who do have God in their lives. Joyce

2013-03-26 03:50:24

Top of the list of military movies

This is one of the finest films I have seen centered on small Southern town prejudice and military procedure. The characters are all portrayed with some of the finest acting skills in the business. If I was disappointed in any way, it was with the knowledge that the story is fictional; everything about the film leads the viewer to believe that the incidence actually occurred. Nevertheless, fact or fiction, it is bound to move those who love movie drama as well as those who appreciate skillfull and accurate dramatization of military events. Five stars to the film itself, to the actors, writers, producers and music composers.

Guy 2013-03-25 21:19:21

Messy Structure

RESTING PLACE is a fractured mix of two dramas. It begins as a veryconventional American race drama, in which Georgia locals refuse tohave a black Vietnam Lieutenant buried in their all-white cemetery. Itthen morphs into a military-set mystery as the circumstances of theLieutenant's death are revealed to be suspicious.This double narrative robs either story of the time needed to developitself and makes the conclusion feel rushed and unsatisfying. Majorcharacters, like the Lieutenant's parents (Morgan Freeman and C.C.H.Pounder), are abandoned for much of the film's running time. The splitbetween the Georgia town and the local Army base ensures that neithercomes alive.The film begins with a degree of racial subtlety as the localauthorities explain their reasons for opposing the burial. Havingavoided the racial violence in the South of the late 1960's they don'twant to move too far, too fast in this post-Civil Rights Era, for fearof causing it. For once these are concerned citizens, not hate-filledrednecks. The second narrative has promise too. The Lieutenant's deathturns out to be the result of a mistake he made that killed some of hismen and lost him the trust of his platoon. Consequently in their nextfirefight he leads but nobody follows, assuring his death.Unfortunately subtlety is thrown out the window as an unconvincingracial subtext is introduced and the Lieutenant's mistake is revealedto have really been made by his radioman (motivated by racism).Handsome production values and some unusually restrained acting fromJohn Lithgow fail to redeem the inability of the screenplay to combineits two stories.

2013-03-24 19:18:02

Outstanding "Who dunnit?" and a "tear jerker"

This review is from: Resting Place (DVD) This movie is an ultimate "tear jerker" and a great "who done it?" to boot. It is one of Morgan Freeman's earliest movies. He and John Lithgow were great in it. But they both played second "fiddle" to the awesome depth and poise displayed by the dead Black Vietnam hero soldier's mother (C.C.H. Pounder), as far as I'm concerned. This is now one of my all time favorite movies. /s/ Steve @ BibleProbe.com

2013-03-24 09:36:49

America at Its Worst

This review is from: Resting Place (DVD) The story is well written and the acting can not be matched! Morgan Freeman is fairly low-keyed in this movie, but I have never seen him do anything less than "excellent"!

2013-03-17 17:24:15

TWO GREAT ACTORS

This review is from: Resting Place (DVD) THIS IS REALLY GOOD, A KEEPER FOR YOUR DVD, COLLECTION THANKS, AMAZON , S

2013-03-17 10:50:17

through anothers eyes

Wow, this was a great movie. although these kind of movies get us upset because of the injustices as well as the racism that existed and still does...how unfortunate that a human life means nothing because of the color of their skin....yet, he was good enough to fight for his country....we are however glad of the outcome of the movie, although it is kind of hard to say or accept that in real life(if those circumstances still were in place) that the outcome would be the same....Don't think so.....

whpratt1 2013-03-16 20:49:49

Morgan Freeman was Outstanding

Enjoyed viewing this film about an American Soldier who was beingreturned to his hometown a small city in Georgia. Major Kendall Laird,(John Lithgow) is escorting the remains of this soldier and he has toface the family, Luther Johnson, (Morgan Freeman) and his wife. Thisprocedure usually takes a few days, however, Major Kendall experiencesstrange behavior by the men who were in combat with this Lt. Johnson,who has been awarded a medal for saving their lives. There is alsoanother problem which involved the burial place for Lt. Johnson becauseof a racial problem with the town people who do not want a Black personto be buried in their cemetery. There are many twists and turns andthis film reveals a very surprising story about what really happened toLt. Johnson.

2013-03-16 04:45:00

One small town's prejudice against burying a Vietnam hero in an all-white cemetary

This review is from: Resting Place (DVD) I am a collector. I collect many kinds of things. One thing I collect is Hallmark Hall of Fame movies. Let me begin this review by telling you NOWHERE is this fact noted! There was a time when Hallmark movies were only broadcast & if a person missed its broadcast, well tough! Other companies owned the rights of distribution. I am grateful to report that is no longer the truth. From at least year 2000, if you want to get a Hallmark movie, they can be ordered directly from Hallmark's web-site & sometimes, found in Hallmark retail stores.Now, about the movie - I agree with the reviewers who cite the casting choices of John Lithgow, Morgan Freeman & CCH Pounder. This movie is set in 1972. I was in junior high school then! I remember accounts of the war in Vietnam being broadcast on the evening news. Racial discrimination was illegal by then. Classrooms, even in the Deep-South were integrated, although many people didn't like it. The police chief of this small town of Rockville, GA met the funeral party for LT Johnson at the entrance of the cemetary & would not let the casket be buried in the town cemetary, because, citing a law that said "within the town boudaries of Rockville, only the remains or cremains of caucasians could be buried therin." Imagine the humiliation of the mourners to have to take the casket back to the church until the matter could be resolved! Then, the character of Major Kendall Laird goes to work to try to get this man's body buried. This fallen Lieutenant was an exceptional man his entire maturing life. He got good grades in school & many other charitable deeds. Then, he joined the Army & got sent to Vietnam to command a mostly white unit. After he died, his unit put him up for a Silver Star. Maj. Laird tries to sift through the stories of the men who served under Lt. Johnson. I won't spoil the surprise event that changes the stroy-line for you. Get the movie & watch it, especially if you are a fan of "who-done-it" & why. There is real "chemistry" between the three main actors in this film.Since this was a Hallmark Hall of Fame production, several things will remain constant & are true in this film as well. First, it will start with a good story; and this is a good story. It is a small slice of time (how long, I can't say, but the body lied in state in the church - maybe a course of a few days). It is times to air in a 120 minute time slot - minus about 30-40 minutes for commercials. Generally, casting included at least one well-known name; although there are some exceptions to this rule. The sets will be realistic, and can be anywhere in the world. There is little swearing, little blood-shed, little violence. If the story requires these, the exposure will be at a bare minimum or addressed in dialog. Many movies are made by the parent company of Hallmark Entertainment, but generally only three a year will earn the Hallmark Hall of Fame designation. These are "hallmarks" of a great production. I now own as much of the collection as is available in home-video formats of VHS & DVD. Many are the "Gold Crown Editions". (These have some special features that are not available in "street copies"). One of those special features is something they call "The Making of ......" featurette. This is a smaller added feature that included some behind the scenes in shooting, interivews with the director, producer & cast as well as how the setting was chosen for outdoor shots.This particular recording is what the Hallmark people call a "street copy". It is just the movie. You can go to particular scenes, but that is the only feature you can do with this version. This recording is very clean. I say this because it is generally my habit to set one of our VHS VCRs to record off-air, HHofF movies when they are broadcast. Generally, at some point later, I will purchase the commercial version of the film. Of course, that means I will get all the commercials too. This movies oes seamlessly from scene to scene & the picture quality is very good.Bottom line - would I recommend this film to others? Oh YES! Fefinately Yes! It is my hope with more people viewing this film now, prejudice that happened in the 1970's will not continue occur in 2011 & beyond.

2013-03-14 03:08:12

"It's okay"

This review is from: Resting Place (DVD) it's a movie that i'm glad i watched because of the actors, it has a twist in the plot that saves it from just another look at prejudice (which we, rightly, have been doing a lot of lately)

brickley220 2013-03-14 00:14:02

A soldier is brought home for burial.

I was so pleased that I had taped this movie from the television basedupon the briefest review in the newspaper as I have the chance to watchthis forgotten gem whenever I wish to. Made in 1986 the film is about aUS Army Major in 1972 accompanying the body of a young officer to hishome town of Rockville for local burial. So what you may think, but thetwist is that Major Laird is played by John Lithgow and his charge isthe son of Luther and Ada Johnson (Morgan Freeman and CCH Pounder). InRockville the cemetery is reserved for the white folks and even blackmilitary heroes have to rest out of town, according to the localSheriff. The plot deals with that period in time when there still wasprejudice even though there were laws for equal rights. This may seemquite dated now that Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th President ofthe United States of America, but the story is told with feeling andsome very strong acting ability. Without exception, all of the leadingcharacters are portrayed by actors who all went on to prove their trueworth. It may be that the subject matter of the movie was not flavourof the month in 1986 but nevertheless it is workmanlike and sincere inits story of good old white society trying to maintain its superiorityover emerging black aspirations. Whilst it is not in the same league as'In the Heat of the Night' or 'Amistad' this well made tale of a fightagainst prejudice is still worth watching more than once.

2013-03-13 02:27:44

OK Movie

This review is from: Resting Place (DVD) This movie plot was wonderful and true, but the acting of John Lithgow was a bit disappointing. Morgan Freeman was great as always but his role was very limited. After seeing it once, I doubt I will ever take it out of the cabinet and watch it again. I think the story could have been told much better by another actor.

2013-03-13 00:29:10

Disappointed

This review is from: Resting Place (DVD) I am huge Morgan Freeman fan and this movie really disappointed me. This was definately not his caliber of story that he is usually associated with.