While I Was Gone (2004)

A veterinarian, unhappy in her life and in her marriage to a minister, treats a dog whose condition is so bad it may have to be euthanized. It turns out that the animal belongs to an old ... See full summary »

Director:

Mike Robe

Writers:

Alan Sharp (teleplay), Sue Miller (novel)

Stars:

Kirstie Alley, Bill Smitrovich, Janaya Stephens

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Kirstie Alley	...	Jo Beckett
Bill Smitrovich	...	Reverend Daniel Beckett
Janaya Stephens	...	Cass Beckett
Peter Horton	...	Eli Mayhew
Deborah Odell	...	Sylvia Mayhew
Sandra Caldwell	...	Betty
Rebecca Benson	...	Young Jo Beckett
Jeff Topping	...	Young Eli Mayhew
Kim Poirier	...	Dana Jablonski
Ryan Kennedy	...	Duncan
Adam Smoluk	...	Larry
Tyler Hynes	...	Malky McDowell
River Ferreira	...	Jesus Martinez
Kevin Williams	...	Byron Hall
Shauna MacDonald	...	Detective Geary

Storyline

A veterinarian, unhappy in her life and in her marriage to a minister, treats a dog whose condition is so bad it may have to be euthanized. It turns out that the animal belongs to an old college friend of hers, prompting her evaluate the life she had back then with the one she has now.

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Plot Keywords:

based on novel | 

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Genres:

Drama

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Details

Official Sites:

CBS

Country:

USA Canada

Language:

English

Release Date:

10 October 2004 (USA)

Also Known As:

Féltve őrzött titkok

Filming Locations:

Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

Company Credits

Production Co:

Government of Manitoba, The, Manitoba Film & Sound, Manitoba Film and Video Production Tax Credit

Technical Specs

Runtime:

120 min

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Quotes

Young Jo Beckett: You slept with them all?
Dana Jablonski: Yep. It was nothing heavy, I mean we're all still friends. Do you think that makes me a slut?
Young Jo Beckett: No! I mean if it's all cool then that's great!
Dana Jablonski: Yeah, you know I kinda just look at it like dancing. You have different partners for difference dances. Some like to waltz and some like to do the tango and some like to foxtrot.
[she laughs]
Young Jo Beckett: Let me guess, Duncan tango's?
Dana Jablonski: Yeah and the dance of narcissism.
Young Jo Beckett: And Larry, he does rock'n'roll?
Dana Jablonski: Yeah, that's just like 'cut to the chase, ...
[...]

User Reviews

I didn't like it that much, but probably well done

Jo is a veterinarian in the Boston area and the wife of Daniel, a minister. One of Jo's patients is a dog in such bad shape he may need to be put down. The dog's owner turns out to be Eli, one of the group Jo used to share a house with during her hippie days. Through flashbacks, we see the young people from their time in the house.

Jo is unhappy in her marriage and tempted to cheat. Not only that, but Eli has a deep dark secret. Jo is not particularly religious despite who her husband is, but she does have moral dilemmas to face.

This was probably a well-done movie, but I didn't like it that much. There was a violent incident which was probably necessary to the plot, but we didn't actually need to see the blood. One good thing about this movie: it didn't hide religious faith, though most of Jo's friends didn't practice 'mainstream' religion, if they were religious at all. The best thing was probably the moral struggle Jo had to go through.