Title: Miss Lettie And Me
Stars: Mary Tyler Moore, Burt Reynolds,
Charlie Robinson, Irma P. Hall, and Holliston Coleman
Writer:
Dalene Young
Based on the Short Story By: Katherine
Paterson
Director: Ian Barry
Executive Producer: Beth Polson
Running Time: 90 minutes without
commercials
Media: TNT Original Television Motion
Picture (NTSC VHS Screener)
World Premiere Sunday, December 8,
2002, at 8pm (ET/PT)
Network: Turner Network Television
(Check your local cable/satellite listings for channel)
TV Rating: TV-G
Reviewer: Mark A. Rivera
It seems like every Holiday Season we
can look forward to a new TNT Original Movie to ring in the cheer. Whether it is
exploring Dickens with “A Christmas Carol” or “Great Expectations” or
reinventing the Santa Claus myth with “Call Me Claus,” Turner Network
Television has never ceased to amaze me with quality of their holiday
programming when it comes to their original films. This year is another pleasant
surprise and perhaps the most down to Earth if not bittersweet TNT Original for
the holidays that I have seen in years.
This film stars Mary Tyler Moore as a
single woman who lives alone in a farm down south with only her long-time
farmhand as company. She is bitter from a youth of sacrifice to aid her younger
sister who abandoned her to pursue a dream of becoming a singer. However her
hardened heart is challenged when her estranged sister’s daughter comes to
live with her and the arrival of the town baseball hero, now retired (Burt
Reynolds). He has returned to his hometown to run the local pharmacy and soda
fountain as well reacquaint himself with Ms. Lettie (Moore), who he had a
budding romance with before leaving town when they were younger. Through a
series of various life lessons and the power of love, Ms. Lettie learns to open
her heart to what is perhaps the greatest holiday gift of all, a family of
friends, loved ones, and unexpected surprises.
Beautifully written and thankfully not
overly sentimental, “Ms. Lettie And Me” is in my opinion the best TNT
Original for the holidays made yet with vivid characterizations that echo each
other and mutually grow in a story about letting go, holding on, and welcoming
back. There are no supernatural elements like spirits of holidays past or flying
reindeer here though we do have a baby lamb that plays an important role that
adds dimension through imagery in the story. This is a genuinely touching story
and a moving TV film. “Ms. Lettie And Me” is also the latest “Johnson
& Johnson Spotlight Presentation.” The last collaboration yielded the
acclaimed drama “Door-To-Door” this past
summer. “Ms. Lettie And Me” will premiere on Turner Network Television on
Sunday, December 8, 2002, at 8pm (ET/PT) with encores as follows:
Encores:
(All Times ET/PT)
Sunday,
December 8, 2002, at 10pm
Sunday,
December 8, 2002, at 12am
Wednesday,
December 11, 2002, at 9pm
Saturday,
December 14, 2002, at 10pm
Sunday,
December 15, 2002, at 4pm
Sunday,
December 15, 2002, at 12am
Saturday,
December 21, 2002, at 12:30pm
© Copyright 2002 By Mark A. Rivera
All Rights Reserved.