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Water Is Wide, The
MOVIE: CBS, Sunday 1/29 at 9:00p (120 minutes)

Water Is Wide, The
Critic Score
Metascore: 47 Metascore out of 100
User Score  
9.3 out of 10
based on 9 reviews
read critic reviews
how did we calculate this?
based on 9 votes
read user comments
rate this tv show

Starring Alfre Woodard, Frank Langella, Jeff Hephner, Julianne Nicholson, LaTanya Richardson, James Murtaugh, and Ivana Grace

The bestselling memoir by Pat Conroy ("The Prince of Tides"), about his year (1969-70) teaching in coastal South Carolina, becomes a Hallmark Hall Of Fame presentation.

GENRE(S): Drama
FIRST AIR DATE: January 29, 2006

What The Critics Said

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

80
Orlando Sentinel Hal Boedeker
Watching Woodard play internal conflict, her face in touching turmoil, offers the movie's greatest pleasure.
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67
Entertainment Weekly Alynda Wheat
Inspiring, it is. [27 Jan 2006, p.79]
60
Variety Laura Fries
Somewhere along the line, however, John Kent Harrison's take on Jonathan Estrin's script falls short, embracing the complex emotions of some characters and then glossing over others. It's this uneven character development that ultimately hampers the pic.
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60
The New York Times Alessandra Stanley
This "Water Is Wide" has a Hallmark worldview: painful episodes of the past are cottoned by idyllic scenery and storybook sentiment. The movie is touching and pleasant, without ever breaking a sweat.
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38
USA Today Robert Bianco
Treacly, phony and condescending.
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30
Boston Globe Matthew Gilbert
It has been written in the manner of every feel-good teacher-hero story from ''To Sir, With Love" to ''Dead Poets Society." By the time the kids have been changed overnight and are cheering for ''teacher man" Conroy (Jeff Hephner) and attending his wedding, you know we have all been here before -- and before that, too.
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30
Los Angeles Times Robert Lloyd
This is a collection of feel-good moments (of a sometimes surpassing phoniness) in search of a plot.
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30
Hollywood Reporter Barry Garron
While not without charm and elegant cinematography, this CBS remake rushes too quickly to a mushy conclusion and, in the end, offers little justification for taking a second pass at the story.
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30
Kansas City Star Aaron Barnhart
Even with the usual gorgeous Hallmark production touches, a period piece about white people liberating black people is hard to watch.
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What Our Users Said

Vote Now!The average user rating for this tv show is 9.3 (out of 10) based on 9 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Chelsea K gave it a9:
This movie was warm and depicted the past as it was. I thought the younger actors gave great performances. Although only one appeared to have the original gullah dialect.

Robin M gave it a9:
I loved it. Thought it was sweet and well acted

Rick N gave it a9:
Very glad to see Hallmark still sponsoring wonderful, family oriented television movies. This one is worth having a copy of.

[Anonymous] gave it a10:
I thought the movie was beautifully done. The characters stood out to me, as I like characters to do. This meaning that I can remember them. It was a movie of depth.

amy p gave it a9:
first rate acting and an honest depiction of the plight of the poor and forgotten in americas south i really enjoyed watching a movie with gut feelings not computerized special effects and cinderella endings

Joni B gave it a9:
Excellent.

Jesus P gave it a10:
Really inspiring movie.

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