The Sandy Bottom Orchestra (2000)

A concert pianist marries a Wisconsin farmer. The struggles that comes with that.

Director:

Bradley Wigor

Writers:

Garrison Keillor (novel), Jenny Lind Nilsson (novel)

Stars:

Glenne Headly, Tom Irwin, Madeline Zima

3 wins & 5 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Glenne Headly	...	Ingrid Green
Tom Irwin	...	Norman Green
Madeline Zima	...	Rachel Green
Jane Powell	...	Delia Ferguson
Richard McMillan	...	Jim Sykes
Roger Dunn	...	Mayor Broadbent
Bradley Reid	...	Billy Peterson
Elizabeth Lennie	...	Angie Wyman
Tamara Hope	...	Carol Wyman
Lindsay Murrell	...	Valerie
Shadia Simmons	...	Jenny
Wendy Lyon	...	Mrs. Erickson
Marcello Meleca	...	Todd Gustafson
Gerard Boyd	...	Mr. Geckle
Tita Griffin	...	Mrs. Dortlund

Storyline

A concert pianist marries a Wisconsin farmer. The struggles that comes with that.

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Plot Keywords:

violinist | small town | pianist | outsider | orchestra | 

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Genres:

Drama | Music

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Certificate:

TV-PG

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

27 August 2000 (USA)

Also Known As:

Kisvárosi zenekar

Filming Locations:

Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Company Credits

Production Co:

Hallmark Entertainment,Helios Productions,Showtime Networks

Technical Specs

Runtime:

100 min

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Madeline Zima, who plays Rachel Green, is the sister of Yvonne Zima, who played Rachel Greene in "ER".

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Goofs

The narration puts the time as summer, and events put it prior to Labor Day, but in some shots the leaves have already turned.

User Reviews

Nice Lighting

This is a film rich in good intentions, but they are so Hallmark-cleansed that much of the real tension is gone. The right people and pieces are there in the right order -- right down to the third cow in the barn -- but what was missing was truth, honesty. It is a suitable "feel good" picture if it doesn't take too much to make you feel good.

Another thing: "Sandy Bottom Orchestra" suffers from is what almost all pictures suffer from these days: the sound FX and music are mixed way in front of the voice tracks. That might work for "Terminator" (and I'm not sure it does), but good grief, "Sandy Bottom" is a narration and dialogue picture! Why is the VOX mixed so far back, and therefore hard to discriminate?

One more thing... I find great irony that a touchy-feely picture about a small town in Minnesota (tightly knit and very American, you know) was shot in Canada.

On the other hand, the DP should be congratulated on great lighting, especially for the exterior shots. "Magic time" was used a lot and very well. It gave most of the exteriors a very lush look without reverting to oversaturation during the timing and transfer process. Good job!