Decent story with a couple of minor flaws. 1) I was thinking most of the time that Reena and John were forgetting someone. 2) Obviously Bo had his reasons, but the movie never sold me on why Reena shouldn't have totally spurned Bo for being a creepy stalker much less fall in love with him. I really would have like to see more time spent on Reena and Bo falling in love. On the positive side, there was good suspense while you wondered when the next fire was going to spring up and how were they going to catch the arsonist.Alicia Witt was at times great. She does a great job as the woman in love and you envy the boyfriend. She plays a really likable person most of the time. Her voice over at the beginning was good, but for a second I was thinking "this woman is the pyro here". But there were a couple of times her character was contradictory and I didn't think she sold it as to why. For one thing she goes from being the tough no-fear cop to being the little girl who can't do a thing. Maybe it almost makes sense, but I didn't buy her presentation of it. If her flashbacks are incapacitating her that much, I see at least two problems. 1) Others would notice it and intervene. 2) She never should have passed her initial fire test. Another time was in the hospital when Hugh dies. She spent almost no time grieving. And the scene chasing Joe with the gun looked ridiculous and if I saw a real cop chasing someone like that, I would be real worried about the gun going off randomly. Scott Bacula was steady as the parental mentor and friend.

I feel it isn't relevant that this is a made for TV movie. Whether TV or the big screen, movies are an entirely different medium from the novel. In so saying, they cannot be translated exactly into a TV screenplay. One must cut out some details or change them for the time frame given. The opening scenes were very suspenseful, even as some have stated, probably not what actually happens in a real test. It wouldn't have shown the main characters dilemma over fire and set up the storyline without it.Ms Witt is always charming in her roles. I remember her the most when she was much younger in Mr. Holland's Opus. She is wonderful as the main character of this movie and Scott Bakula was his usual entertaining self. It is a sad story but I feel well written for TV. Most movies of this type are fairly predictable which is fine. There are only so many ways to write a story and not make it seem contrived to get some bizarre twist. This one actually has its own twist because one forgets who the arsonist could be unless you are paying very close attention. This is one aspect of the movie that escalates with the writer trying to keep us guessing by not actually showing the face of the person who is committing the crimes. This is not a new idea but it keeps you guessing who the person might be.The additional storyline of the guy who sees a woman across the room and falls in love, looking for her over time seems a little unusual and the only part I had a little trouble with but it was a cute idea. I find the general storyline plausible, even though some details wouldn't happen in real life in my opinion. The movie was very enjoyable. I wouldn't give it a 10 but it rates an 8. If you like romance novels, you should enjoy this movie.

The first two adaptations (Angels Fall and Montana Sky) were disappointing for someone who read the books. I was actually pleased by Blue Smoke.They did a good job of adapting a complex book down to a short movie. The flashbacks were a great way of letting us understand Reena's history and her current emotional state. Of course, they changed some of the details, but those changes didn't bother me, and worked well for the movie. And I think they did a good job of casting for this one - Alicia Witt and Scott Bakula were very good.The only complaint I have is that due to the short time constraint, they were not able to really focus as much on the relationship with Bo, so the chemistry wasn't as strong as it could have been. Matthew Settle is very cute, but we didn't really get to know his character.That said, I enjoyed it.

Best of the Bunch, so far. (referring to the 4 Nora Roberts' adaptations Lifetime television is showing January to February 2007).The chick got issues and I sat there wondering how the next person was going to die. All in all, that made for a good story. Even better, there was a great cast and a tightly crafted screenplay that moved along.Even in the face of a big character/story flaw, I was able to enjoy the film. I can't remember it from the book, but the literary device they used to show us what happened in the past was effective as a literary device, but it also created a situation that was more than just trauma, it was full-blown PTSD and I don't think that she should have be allowed to go into fires after her performance on the test. It not only puts her life in danger, but puts the lives of her colleagues and the people they save in danger. This fact, however, didn't distract me too much from enjoying the movie.I gotta say I was totally hooked by the guy who kept spotting her. He was cute and the entire thing was so romantic. I was hoping he wasn't going to die by fire or be a firebug himself. I love those tricks of fate.Now, that FBI agent, he seemed like something out of the ABC Soap General Hospital - a cop who's portrayed as a bad guy. Thankfully, it was one short scene and things moved along (proving it was definitely not an ABC Daytime product).Was it just me, or did the bad guy look like a bald Ben Affleck to anyone else? The rest, I really enjoyed. I'll be watching this film again. The only thing missing was something - a theme, an event, a person - that I could emotionally connect with. It was a good mystery. I give this film 8 out of 10 stars.