J Henerson faced an interesting challenge - how to turn an atmospheric, introspective short story into a usable TV-length screenplay. To his credit, he managed it, though not without a certain loss of character. Jack Finney's tale was set in New York City - specifically Brooklyn as of the present day, and as of 1889, when it was a very different place indeed - a place of huge shade trees and wide sidewalks and large, gracious houses. The screenplay tossed all that overboard for a story set forty years before in a vaguely-defined New England locale represented entirely by the one house we see.
The other bad news was the casting: I can only assume that Jennifer Jason Leigh was both available and inexpensive, for nothing else could have recommended her. Nothing about the character suggests she is malnourished and consumptive, yet that is exactly how Miss Leigh appears - far too skinny for the times, wan and tired-looking. Ironically, the lovely Kali Rocha, who played her sister (yet who looks nothing remotely like her!) was far closer to the story's original description, and closer to the norm of 19th century femininity. (See "Gods and Generals.") Daphne Ashbrook, on the other hand, as the "woman of the 90s," looked and played the part perfectly - hard, clashing, angular and clueless. Her only false note was when she meekly departed from the leading man's life without seeking legal damages or showing any other shrewish, vindictive behavior - leaving him free to pursue a modern-day Jennifer Jason Leigh, sunken-eyed and anorexic, looking even more ill than she did before.
In all other ways, though, this was a workmanlike production; J Henerson did an excellent job of recreating 19th-century language, both written and spoken, and Dorothy Amos' 19th-century costumes were wonderfully done.
Nonetheless, given the choice of introductions, I would recommend Jack Finney's original story over this - it is beautifully written and leaves no loose ends hanging.
The other bad news was the casting: I can only assume that Jennifer Jason Leigh was both available and inexpensive, for nothing else could have recommended her. Nothing about the character suggests she is malnourished and consumptive, yet that is exactly how Miss Leigh appears - far too skinny for the times, wan and tired-looking. Ironically, the lovely Kali Rocha, who played her sister (yet who looks nothing remotely like her!) was far closer to the story's original description, and closer to the norm of 19th century femininity. (See "Gods and Generals.") Daphne Ashbrook, on the other hand, as the "woman of the 90s," looked and played the part perfectly - hard, clashing, angular and clueless. Her only false note was when she meekly departed from the leading man's life without seeking legal damages or showing any other shrewish, vindictive behavior - leaving him free to pursue a modern-day Jennifer Jason Leigh, sunken-eyed and anorexic, looking even more ill than she did before.
In all other ways, though, this was a workmanlike production; J Henerson did an excellent job of recreating 19th-century language, both written and spoken, and Dorothy Amos' 19th-century costumes were wonderfully done.
Nonetheless, given the choice of introductions, I would recommend Jack Finney's original story over this - it is beautifully written and leaves no loose ends hanging.