A Ring of Endless Light (TV 2002)

Based on the Novel by Madeline L'Engle. During the summer her grandfather is dying of leukemia and death seems all around, 15-year-old Vicky finds comfort with the pod of dolphins with ... See full summary »

Director:

Greg Beeman

Writers:

Madeleine L'Engle (novel), Marita Giovanni (teleplay),

Stars:

Mischa Barton, Ryan Merriman, Jared Padalecki

2 wins & 1 nomination.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Mischa Barton	...	Vicky Austin
Ryan Merriman	...	Adam Eddington
Jared Padalecki	...	Zachery Gray
Scarlett Pomers	...	Suzy Austin
Soren Fulton	...	Rob Austin
James Whitmore	...	Grandfather
Theresa Wong	...	Dr. Zand
Penny Everingham	...	Cecily
Christopher Kirby	...	Harbor Master Dan (as Chris Kirby)
Steven Vidler	...	Mr. Gray
Leo Taylor	...	Captain
Terry Annesley	...	Mate
Carol Baker	...	Mrs. Austin
Arron Wayne Cull	...	Mr. Austin (as Wayne Cull)

Storyline

Based on the Novel by Madeline L'Engle. During the summer her grandfather is dying of leukemia and death seems all around, 15-year-old Vicky finds comfort with the pod of dolphins with which she has been doing research.

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Plot Keywords:

death | dolphin | dying | leukemia | grandfather granddaughter relationship | 

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Genres:

Drama | Family | Romance

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Certificate:

TV-G

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

23 August 2002 (USA)

Also Known As:

Delfiinikesä

Filming Locations:

Australia

Company Credits

Production Co:

Disney Channel, Village Roadshow Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

88 min

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Several elements from the original story have been changed: in the novel, Vicky and her family knew about her grandfather's condition the entire time, she had an older brother, her younger sister was much older and prettier, there was a third boy she was interested in, the plot element about drift nets was entirely absent, and her parents were present during the whole trip at the grandfather's house.

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Goofs

In the opening scene, while Mischa Barton's character dreams of swimming as a mermaid, she does a somersault underwater that horribly reveals the fakeness of the tail: a flap of fabric from the waist is shown dangling, her knees scrunch up the material, and the entire waistline crinkles up.

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Quotes

Grandfather: [reading from Vaughn] I saw eternity the other night like a great ring of pure and endless light'

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Soundtracks

"Here in My Heart"
Written by Jason Derlatka and Hollye Leven
Performed by Plus One

User Reviews

Absolutely Dreadful

I did not enjoy this movie at all. I am a huge fan of the book and at first was excited that Disney decided to make a movie from it. I was shocked that the movie was not like the book AT ALL. I really did not like the actors and actresses chosen to depict the characters. Mischa Barton does in fact have a similar appearance to the Vicky in the book, but is not a very good actress and her performance was unenjoyable. I expected Zachary Gray to be more "dark" and "pale" as he is described in the book and I was disappointed that Jared Padalecki was chosen for this part. There were a lot of characters either added or taken out of the story. Whatever happened to Leo and Jacky Rodney, Mrs. Rodney, and the death of Commander Rodney? Or what about Binnie at the hospital? Or even Mr. and Mrs. Austin, who only appear in the movie at the very end. Scarlett Pomers was also not a good choice to play Suzy. She appears as red-headed, frizzy-haired and four-eyed instead of the petite, dark-haired, purple-eyed tween genius she was described as in the book. There were also a lot of different things added to the movie, such as the whole story about the drift nets which did not appear in the book at all. I think Disney captured this whole idea about changing the movie from the story of a teenage girl coping with her grandfather's leukemia into the story of a girl choosing between two boys and having to deal with the captain of some ship leaving drift nets in the water and potentially capturing the dolphins.

To conclude, I was extremely disappointed with this movie. In my opinion, read the book. It's one of the best pieces of written fiction I've read, and is much more satisfying as a story than the movie ever will be.