The story is inspirational. HW Longfellow is a beloved poet and his works reflect a man of faith in God. Longfellow also believed in the value of each person. The poem I Heard The Bells is now a favorite Christmas time song but not technically a hymn. Longfellow, was an abolitionist leading up to the War Between the North and South. After the credits (if you wait for it) is a behind the scenes short documentary.
In the short film about the making they mention that the project started as a documentary but morphed into a 110 minute feature. That is where this film slipped up. There is not enough story to make that long a film. Back in the day it would have been an excellent made for TV movie with commercials it would be 90 min.
The pace gets to be so slow. First hall is Longfellow and his wife enjoying long moments looking at each other. Ok, we get it, they were really in love. The most dramatic scenes are so easily predictable the tension is not surprising. Other scenes don't make sense why or what they are about. Is there anything surprising? Not a bit.
At least it doesn't have the Hollywood stink all over it and yet is very well filmed with just a few moments of incongruity.
In the short film about the making they mention that the project started as a documentary but morphed into a 110 minute feature. That is where this film slipped up. There is not enough story to make that long a film. Back in the day it would have been an excellent made for TV movie with commercials it would be 90 min.
The pace gets to be so slow. First hall is Longfellow and his wife enjoying long moments looking at each other. Ok, we get it, they were really in love. The most dramatic scenes are so easily predictable the tension is not surprising. Other scenes don't make sense why or what they are about. Is there anything surprising? Not a bit.
At least it doesn't have the Hollywood stink all over it and yet is very well filmed with just a few moments of incongruity.