Carolina Moon Movie
Storyline
TAGLINES PLOT SUMMARY
In her mid-twenties, Tory Bodeen returns to the small Carolina town of her childhood, where her best friend Hope was murdered in an unsolved assault. Tory is blessed - or maybe cursed - with the ability to see events in the past and present, and although at the time she knew what has happening to Hope, she was unable to prevent it or to see who the assailant was. Her father, a righteous religious fanatic, remains a suspect. As the anniversary of Hopes death approaches, Tory resolves to face her demons with the help of childhood friends - her cousin Wade, Hope's sister Faith, and Hope's brother Cade, who still carries a torch for her. Will friends be enough?
| Claire Forlani | Victoria 'Tory' Bodeen |
| Oliver Hudson | Cade Lavelle |
| Josie Davis | Faith Lavelle |
| Jonathan Scarfe | Dwight Collier |
| Chad Willett | Wade Mooney |
| Jacqueline Bisset | Margaret Lavelle |
| Shaun Johnston | Han Bodeen |
| Greg Lawson | Police Chief Carl Russ |
| Maureen Rooney | Sari Bodeen |
| Kailin See | Sherry Bellows |
| Shae Keebler | Young Hope Lavelle, Young Faith Lavelle |
| Gabrielle Casha | Young Tory Bodeen |
| Brieanna Moench | Lissy |
| Kade Phillips | Young Cade |
| Stephen Tolkin |
5.70 out of 10 (702 votes)
Visitor Reviews
Kudos all around!
posted on 01 May 2009This is by far the best Nora Robert's adaptation made out of the four that were filmed in 2007. The actors were great and the story line was very close to that in the book.
The only thing that irked me were the accents. I live in the South and a promise we all don't sound so..."Gone with the Wind."
Other than that, I think that Nora Roberts should be decidely proud of the accomplishment she made with the movie.
Better than your average TV movie
posted on 12 Apr 2009Once it started rolling I forgot this is a TV movie, until I chanced upon the IMDb page and started reading the comments. I'm very surprised to see a few very negative comments about this film. It may not be the perfect supernatural thriller or mystery story, but it's got great acting and some beautiful actresses, which let's face it, does help, and I'm not talking about supermodel, centerfold kinds of looks. (For those interested in men, they aren't bad either. Well, most of them.) It is of course about a psychic woman, but only touches upon the supernatural and does not run away with it. It has a villain, a serial killer, but keeps you guessing at who he, or she, may be. And unlike so many stories set in America's Bible Belt, you can't tell the good and bad guys based on their religiosity, their gods. It does confront, somewhat in passing, many grave societal issues, including child abuse, religious violence, gender inequality, and others, without being overly dramatic or moralizing.This movie is a breath of fresh air, made with care not only about the writing, the dialog, but also a care to avoid the clichés that make most TV movies so pedestrian and predictable.I never read the book, so it could well be superior. All I know is, Carolina Moon ain't bad at all.
I guess the book was pretty good.
posted on 10 Apr 2009I read a lot of high hopes from readers of the book that this would be a faithful adaptation of Nora Roberts' story. Not having read the book, I don't know if this adaptation was faithful but I do know it wasn't good. Actually, the screenplay was the best part of the movie so kudos to Nora Roberts.I planned ahead and watched Carolina Moon because of Claire Forlani. I've never been sure if she's a good actress. She's been decent in some movies, average in others and really bad in this one. But, Forlani wasn't alone. The performances were all over the place. Oliver Hudson was wooden and boring. Josie Davis was hammy. Then, amidst all this B-rate acting, there's Jacqueline Bisset! She didn't have a lot to do other than portray bitterness but, even sleepwalking through that, she was miles ahead of the others.Still, Forlani remains one of the most breathtaking women in movies and I was not disappointed in that capacity here. I believe Forlani can be more than eye-candy but, until she turns in a good performance in a good movie, she continues to excel at that. And, I'll continue to faithfully watch everything she participates in. Fandom is fun that way.This movie though, Carolina Moon, was pretty bad. In addition to the bad acting (fake Southern accents are really distracting) the direction was pedestrian. It wasn't horrible. It was just the boring made-for-TV caliber you're used to seeing on Lifetime.If you're a fan of any of the stars you can probably enjoy Carolina Moon for that reason, as I did. If you're a fan of the book you might enjoy seeing the story on the screen, albeit in a lackluster form. Otherwise, this movie is unremarkable.
Carolina Moon dubbed most terrible movie
posted on 27 Feb 2009I watched this movie for the hot guy--and even he sucked! He was the worst one--well, okay, I have to give props to that freaky police officer rapist guy too, he was even worse. The guy wasn't that cute in the end, he had the most terrible accent, and he was the most definite definition of hicksville idiot that can't stand up to his mom for the one he "loves" there's ever been. Overall, and if this makes any sense to you, when I go to pick up movies at the video store, I think to myself as I read the back of a movie that looks so/so, "Well, at least it can't be worse than Carolina Moon." The most terrible movie, and the most terrible writing, acting, plot--everything in it made my gag reflexes want to do back flips. It was THE most horrid movie I will ever see, with Gabriela way up there too. I hated it, and trust me, if there was any number under 1 IMDb had for rating, I'd choose that in a heartbeat.
This is just a "Note to K.S. Perry" about SPOILERS!!!
posted on 05 Jan 2009Dear K.S. Perry,
In the future, would you please warn readers of your reviews when you're going to tell the ending of a story?!! Something like "CAUTION: CONTAINS SPOILERS" is the norm, I believe.
For anyone who hasn't yet read Perry's review and DOES NOT want to know the ending, do not read beyond the 1st three paragraphs of that review.
Worth Watching
posted on 23 Dec 2008I have never read any of Nora Roberts' books and didn't realise this was a Telemovie until visiting this site after watching it, so I was quite surprised to find it was a telemovie. I was very well done for the most part.The acting on the most part was good and I thought Claire Forlani did a very good job. As someone else commented Oliver Hudson's acting was a little wooden, but not having seen him before I can hardly be a judge of his work other than this movie.This is the type of movie that I like, lots of extra plots, twists and psychic moments, although I picked the killer in the first 10 minutes.Some of it was predictable but it was still worth watching.
Hope Rising
posted on 12 Dec 2008CAROLINA MOON, based on the novel by Nora Roberts, is a Lifetime Network made-for-TV quickie in which Tory Bodeen, the psychic heroine, returns to her small Southern hometown of Progress, many years after her childhood friend Hope was killed there.
With her psychic abilities, Tory quickly becomes aware that Hope's murder was just the first in a long string of serial murders, of which she herself is the ultimate intended victim.
Strictly a potboiler, CAROLINA MOON holds the viewer's interest despite suffering with some deplorably off-the-rack characters: Hope's sister, Faith (what else?), is incurably jealous of Tory and sexually insatiable to boot; Hope and Faith's wealthy mother still resents Tory bitterly for the circumstances of Hope's death; Hope's family has erected a grossly ghoulish statue of her at the site of her murder. The "Profiler" elements do offset much of the stereotyping.
If you can ignore the truly expectable elements, CAROLINA MOON is an entertaining way to spend 90 minutes.
"CHICK" ROMANCE FILM FOR REVEIW
posted on 24 Nov 2008I purchased this particular DVD for my daughter (age 25) as part of her list of birthday gifts...part of several similar books/DVDs from same author. Personally, I believe it to be more of a "chick" film, although I admit I saw the movie on Lifeline and thought it was okay. Good, entertaining romance drama film and recommend it.
Amazing!
posted on 24 Oct 2008Of course Nora Roberts fans are not compelled to give her movies tens because we all know that a lot of the time the books are VERY different from the movie, but this movie was amazing.It had so much feeling! When people were feeling tense on screen the viewers also felt just as tense. The actors and actresses in this movie MADE their characters what they were. They were a lot like you would imagine them from reading the book, but they also added their own personal touch to the character and you could tell that.I am sure that Nora Roberts is VERY proud of all five of her movies (Angels Fall, Blue Smoke, Carolina Moon, Montana Sky, Sanctuary) and as she should be! I definitely recommend all of her movies to anyone who is looking for a classic romantic, funny, mystery thriller.
Great movie...keeps you guessing.
posted on 12 Sep 2008I love movies that do not sing the praise of religion, where the true character of the gospels are laid bare for all to see. Rather than show us churchgoers who live and let live, Carolina Moon shows the vile side of religion, which is as essential to the character of faith as the sunny bright side illogic usually shows.The abusive father is one way to look as patriarchal religions, as is the subservient mother. This movie shows both. Not just another TV movie, Carolina Moon develops its characters and its plot. It's no masterpiece, but if the plot is not gripping enough, the girls make it alright.Oh, and who fixes up the dog? Sorry, not a god.
Carolina Moon
posted on 08 Aug 2008Loved It, could watch it over and over again, that's why I bought the DVD. When I like a movie like this one, I buy it, so I can watch it over and over again. Great actors and actresses, story line was intriging, I didn't know who it was until the end of the show. Kind of suspense, romance mixed up together.
Book is better.
posted on 17 Jul 2008The novel Carolina Moon by Nora Roberts was so much better than the film starring Claire Forlani and Oliver Hudson. Yes, the actors portraying Tori and Cade were a perfect match, but they always say the book is better and in this case the book was soooooo much better.
I made sure to read the book before the film. I fell in love with the characters including Faith and Wade, and even Dwight. The book held your attention where the film faltered with that.
I'm not saying it was a horrible film, not at all, but it just felt like there was so much more to explain. They cut out a lot of characters from the book I would've liked to have seen on film, and so many other scenes like the great conversation between Cade and Faith. In the book, the two siblings looked like they had a great connection, a very special bond, but in the film it was flat, and they looked as if they didn't care much for the other. Given, they are brother and sister, but their relationship in the film was sooo blah.
And the end of the film where they show Dwight being the killer....it was SHOCKING in the BOOK! I almost made a scene when I read it, it was that powerful. In the film, it was .... okay. Nothing crazy. And Dwight had children in the book, and I think that's why it was so shocking in the book to read Dwight was the killer. It was really sad. Again, if they would have showed that in the film, it might have improved the ending.
Again, book was better. Film was okay. It went by really fast when the book seemed like it lasted a long time.
Nora Roberts finally getting her due!!
posted on 20 May 2008I've been reading Robert's books for years (her J.D. Robb series as well), so I was ecstatic to see that they'd brought her to television. Finally some feel-good romance in with the gangsta wannabe's and teen drama, and her books always have a good plot, so not the transparent norm. As for the movie itself, well "based off" is right as there are several things altered or switched around, but they did a pretty good job getting the feeling across, though it did feel a little rushed in places. My question however is: as I don't like to watch movies on my computer, is it permissable to burn them onto dvd and watch them on my tv (I don't have Tivo)? I think offering digital media is great as it will allow us access to movies we'd normally not be able to purchse, but to be honest, I'm little hesitant to buy something that would be gone if my pc ever went kuput and I didn't have a hard copy of it. If someone knows of a link where I can simply purchase the dvd, let me know please!!
*Warning* this is one bad movie!!!!
posted on 10 Mar 2008The story is about a psychic woman, Tory, who returns to her hometown and begins reliving her traumatic childhood past (the death of her childhood friend and abusive father). Tory discovers that her friend was just the first in a string of murders that are still occurring. Can her psychic powers help solve the crimes and stop the continuing murders? You really don't need to find out because, Oh My God! This was so so so so bad! I know all the Nora Roberts fans will flock to this movie and give it tons of 10's. Then the rest of us will see an IMDb score of 6 and actually think this movie is worth watching. But do not be fooled. The ending was predictable, the acting TERRIBLE (don't even get me started about the southern accents *y'all*) and the story was trite. Just remember....you were warned!
Adequate
posted on 04 Mar 2008'Carolina Moon' is an adequate made-for-TV movie about a girl with psychic powers who returns to the town whereshe grew up in and where her childhood best friend was murdered. Turns out that every year on the same date anotheryoung girl is murdered and Tori, played by Claire Forlani, must solve the mystery before she ends up dead. Claire Forlani (Meet Joe Black, CSI New York) is the female lead and does a pretty good job of it, ably supported by the rather delicious Oliver Hudsom and a still luminous Jacqueline Bisset. The script, adapted from a Nora Roberts novel, is bog-standard and the plotis tediously predictable. That, however, is offset again by, like I said, the rather delicious Oliver Hudson.
- 1
- 2
Horrible
posted on 17 Jul 2009This movie was nothing like the book. Everything was mixed up or changed. Most of the movie was things that weren't even in the book.This movie never should have been viewed. It was a great disappointment to me when I enjoyed the book so much and then to watch how this movie trashed the entire thing.I would never recommend this movie to anyone that is a fan of Nora Roberts or J.D. Robb.Honestly this movie is not worth watching with how off from the book is really is.