Don't Believe the Hype

A different way of telling a story

I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

Lifetime movies have several themes which are employed repetitively --- the sociopath who works his/her way into a family and then intends to create mayhem; the spouse with a past completely unknown to his/her significant other; the occasional coming together by a couple who begin as rivals or combatants; etc., etc.But one thread which seems common to most, and is present here, is some sort of intended duplicity by one or more of the characters. Here, the young couple who enter the life of the attractive, successful, terminal lead character, at first intend simply to dupe her for financial gain. And you'd expect the typical Lifetime fare to proceed in a one-dimensional manner towards this end.But this picture has much more than you expect, in contract to the usual.Firstly, the cast can actually act, Secondly, the characters are not drawn ridiculously "over-the-top," and ring true. Thirdly, the story is actually believable and interesting. Finally, the characters are actually persons about whom the viewer can "care," and with whom one can empathize.

I understand most of the comments in here! But this film raises the questions of "how do you define love?", Questions of class inadequacy?" and "What is the true value of wealth and morality?". In this film 3 very different people come together and change each others lives with some very different results. Eleanor (Joely Richarson) despite dying, she achieves happiness by understanding that those around her felt love, jealousy or were deceptive toward her. Cynthia (Molly Parker)despite loosing her love & being deceptive, she was able to understand the true value of family. She also learned that one true value doesn't necessarily come through wealth. And Buck (Aden Young) despite of loosing his true love, was to love for the first time and stop being uncaring. The film the definition of love goes beyond the physical sense of human understanding & shows that people can be love for who they really are. Once this is done, you omit any notion of beauty, ugliness and sex as the attributes of love. The inadequacy between social classes in the film raises the issue that despite some of us being born privilege or underprivilege, everyone basic needs remain the same (sustenance, love, being love, etc). Lastly, the film questions the value of wealth and how much of an importance do we put in our lives to achieve it, since in the end, we cannot take any of it with us. But it is our families and our deeds that are our true treasures and measure of our value as individuals.

I've seen this movie so many times, and it still makes me cry. Spectacular performances, an excellent adaptation, and a good soundtrack. It makes Henry James so much more applicable. It's a little hard to find, but definitely worth the effort.

I first saw this movie on the Lifetime cable network under the title "In A Private Garden."I didn't have any great expectations at first, but I ended up liking it very much. It was an interesting story line (at least to me). I was drawn to the characters and developed a genuine empathy for them.I would recommend this movie to anyone who enjoys a drama/romance story with a twist.