NJS Let me start by saying I love everything Cameron Mathison!!! He is so genuine and likable it is hard not to enjoy his movies! However, I felt Andie MacDowell was a bit pompous and strict in this movie. No surprise since she seems to play that character in many of her films. She looked a lot older compared to Mathison, which she is. Even so, Mathison lit up this movie with his charm. No, I have not read the books but I will now. Maybe it is better that I watched this first vs. reading the book. Cynicism would have taken over if I had.

terisechrist The book was wonderful, full of quirky characters including Father Tim and Cynthia. I saw nothing of the book's characters in the movie, that I could even remotely identify the way Jan Karon magically painted them in her book.

whmerwinjr I love Hallmark. I like the uplifting boy meets girl, live happily ever after stories. But the complexity and spirituality of the Mitford books was totally lost in this movie. Hallmark missed the opportunity to develop this into a great series. Fr. Tim was totally miscast. Cameron Mathison is a great romantic lead, but this was not the role for him. In the books, his character demonstrates the wonder and glory of finding love late in life. He is a pudgy, bespectacled, balding diabetic. His diabetes and depression are an integral part of the novels. In addition to depression and diabetes, alcoholism, Alzheimer's and mental illness are dealt with in informative and compassionate manner.Please don't do this to the rest of the Mitford novels.

jemoore964 So disappointing! I am a huge fan of the books and had hoped this would be made into a film for a long time. This mess doesn't deserve to be mentioned in the same breath. Father Tim is supposed to be 59 and balding! Major characters are missing like Puny, Miss Sadie Baxter, Uncle Billy and Miss Rose. Instead they throw in new characters that are not needed to hold the plot together. I am sad they did such a poor job of filming a lovely book! Now I know why the author has done no promotion of this film.