Well,I have written thousands of reviews at IMDb and have stated that I am a big Moira Kelly fan. When she appeared many movies like "The Cutting Edge", "Chaplin", "Daybreak" and "Twin Peaks" back in the 1990's,she was obviously positioned to become the next Hollywood superstar being extremely talented and very pretty.Too bad that she felt that Hollywood is in contrast to what she is all about and didn't like the staples of Hollywood films - sex and violence -that she decided to leave Los Angeles and instead to do independent films like "Entertaining Angels:The Dorothy Day Story". She still found success on TV being in Aaron Sorkin's "West Wing" for one season and in "One Tree Hill" for five seasons.Now,she is relegated to doing TV movies.I started to search TV movies where she is involved with being a still a big fan of hers and found "A Smile As Big As The Moon" wherein she plays the wife of special education teacher,Mike Kersjes. "A Smile As Big As The Moon" stars John Corbett together with Jessy Schram, Logan Huffman,Moira Kelly, and performers who actually have learning disabilities.It is based on the memoirs of the special education teacher,Mike Kersjes,who has high dreams for his students with learning disabilities. He intends to raise money for his special-ed students to join the NASA space camp which is a program best suited for intellectually gifted and intelligent students. Since it is a TV movie,we get to see the expected predictability that Mike is able to overcome the obstacles such as lack of funds,non-support of the school administration, and the lack of experience that NASA has in accommodating these type of students. But in spite of these things,I found the movie truly touching and memorable. It tries to tell the message of the triumph of the human spirit and respect for individuals despite their limitations. Aside from this great story,I also found the portrayal of John Corbett as Mike Kersjes great especially when it presents his character's determination and persistence in allowing his special education students to dream of big things in their life.Also worthy of recognition is Jessy Schram in the role of Robynn as Mike's co-teacher in a special education class.As for Moira,I found her performance as Mike's wife great as well being supportive of her husband's ambitious project and encouraging her husband through the numerous obstacles that he has to overcome and when trying to suggest things to him with dialogues such as "Genius is keeping things simple".Overall,this was a truly inspiring TV movie that reminds us of the triumph of human spirit and encouragement of people to reach for their goals in spite of their physical and mental impairments or limitations.It was also nice to see Moira Kelly once again and being involved in this type of projects despite being only in a supporting role nor a Hollywood superstar rather than being involved in movies that only shows sex and violence and being a Hollywood superstar at that.

Extras really made the movie. Extras like Hunter Morris, and Seth McRollins starred. These are local kids enrolled in the flight simulator program next door! They truly added depth to the feature film. Also, the main character as the teacher did a great job of portraying the hardships of chasing a love. Great location, great on- screen effects, and perfectly romantic. Great job by Hallmark. Luved it!

I've spent a couple of days trying to figure out how I feel about this movie. I think you'll know from the synopsis if this is your *type* of movie. I found it an interesting story even if the characters were all rather generic types and a little flat. The acting was fine and didn't distract from the story. I found the kids believable and the teachers sympathetic.I wanted the movie to deal in more depth with how the kids were treated at school. As it was written, their treatment was pretty cliché (although it doesn't mean it wasn't accurate). I also wanted more details on special accommodations the kids may have gotten while at camp. And I couldn't help wondering if there wasn't a legal avenue to get special needs children into Space Camp.Overall, I did like the movie. I appreciate that it didn't push too hard for an emotional response.

A Smile as Big as the Moon is truly an inspirational, entertaining and thought provoking movie. If you've ever felt different or not-quite-good-enough, you might relate to the challenges this group of kids endure on a daily basis, and you'll be touched by the leaps and bounds achievable with a big imagination and a big heart. This film has a great cast of young actors that do an incredible job of portraying the successes attainable through teamwork, friendship, dedication and a sense of self worth.I watched this movie twice in two days, once with my husband and the other time with my daughter. There are a lot of great lessons to be learned and shared. I highly recommend this movie.