Watch Little John For Free

A waste of 90 minutes of my life

Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.

This movie feels like it was made purely to piss off people who want good shows

A family with a painful interpersonal past attempts to reconcile and forgive. It is realistically difficult but demonstrates the need and value of facing past issues fully, painful or not. Hallmark has given another great movie. Acting is very good. Patty Duke has a small role, performs it well and proves that great actresses just love to act, especially if it is a story worth telling. Those who dislike the movie because she has a small role need to realize that is beside the point and it was her decision to make.

I'd like to preface this review that the actors and acting were superb. The "Little John" movie looked nice enough, seeming to be a good-feeling movie with her dad adopting her illegitimate child, but little is uplifting while it dropped the rape bombshell 3/4 of the way through, demonstrating the essence of a no-win scenario. It then ends with a simple "resolution" and that's it - no real good-feeling about it, giving absolutely nothing pleasant through the movie on which to focus (except a little jazz music).I found it disturbing that the daughter who idolized her father so much couldn't confide in him about her rape when it happened, which would have prevented any estrangement in the first place, and then she judged him for reacting on only what he did know (about 1/4 of the truth). I think this is unrealistic if she truly idolized him - even in the face of rape. I know, she was traumatized . . . Even though she wanted nothing to do with him, he tried to support her by taking LJ in only to find out that, had she been truthful with him, he might have made a different decision in the best interest of the her and the child. The truth is always best-said, no matter how painful. Of course, this may be reality, but why would "Hollywood" consider it entertaining to watch? I watch movies to brighten my life and take my mind off my own trauma. This movie was unpleasant, disturbing, and all four of us watching just looked at each other in the end and commented, "Really?! It wasn't a chick-flick, it wasn't a guy movie, nor was it a feel-good movie, so what was it!" It actually rather ruined our up-to-that-point pleasant day (and 1/2 my night's sleep). I can't recommend it - obviously.

Hallmark has done it again with another great TV movie. Thank you Hallmark for making this film.I love this heartwarming, redemptive story about a family that faces trials, yet works things out in the end and that put a smile on my face. The acting was excellent and the movie was enjoyable. I watch this movie over and over every time it is on. I gave it a 10 because it is one of Hallmark's best movies. It was exciting to the end and the performances by all the actors were outstanding. They are all seasoned actors. This movie will go down as a Hallmark classic. I hope you will love it too.

What a horrible sin to waste the talents of this Oscar and Emmy-winning actress! In a storyline that is barely passable in itself (what 12 year old kid acts as perfect as little John does???) Duke is merely scenery as law clerk for Reuben. Her screen time is limited, as it was in her last Hallmark film, A Season for Miracles (1999) but at least in that one her character was an important aspect of the story. Here she is simply window dressing. What ever happened to the days when she was starring in gorgeous Hallmark productions such as Harvest of Fire (96) and A Christmas Memory (97) both of which she should have received Emmy nods for.On the other hand, Ving Rhames does all he can in his role as the grandfather, but Gloria Reuben probably needs to have her acting phoned in for her, as it looks like she is reciting them from a teleprompter or something - no feeling, just words.And the ending absolutely sucks. It plays it safe once again, when one of the few redeeming assets of the movie was how the mother-son reunion was not written from a Hallmark card, but much more real. In the end everything is a mess and the reader sits there wondering why he or she just wasted 2 hours of their time.My score: 5/10