Alex Carter is absolutely gorgeous. The love scene on the beach was to die for; had to tune in for the next two showings to see it again and again. I was fortunate enough to catch him on a rerun of CSI. Cannot wait to see him in other roles. Watch out for this guy, people--he is not going away. I had read The Mermaid Chair and loved it. I thought Lifetime showed a very good screen adaptation and stayed true to the story. Sue Monk Kidd also wrote The Secret Life of Bees; might want to check it out-a really good read. Love Bruce Greenwood. Kim Basinger looked wonderful, haven't seen much of her in a while. Her wardrobe was pretty, too. One should also check out Thomas Merton's prayer that Father Thomas spoke of to Father Dominique. It is a beautiful prayer, very thought provoking. Yes, it is definitely a chick flick and I along with several friends really enjoyed it.

Didn't care for the movie, the book was better. Does anyone know where it was filmed? *** this was my first visit to your site...just found the answer to my question. so now I look like a dummy, but I think I'll still submit my comments. and yes, British Columbia is lovely ***Or why they took it from its South Carolina Coastal setting?(this question stands) The place was essential to the fabric of the book and its change was part of my disappointment with the movie. Oh, I just read where I need to write at least ten lines. Here's my other main issue with the film. Kim Bassinger was too vapid and not at all what I pictured from the book. I know, the book was the book and the movie; well not so good. I found the character in the book much more empathetic. Also the book evoked rustic, almost primitive images of the monastery. While the "castle" in the film was much more visually impressive, it distorted the feel of the story and seemed at odds with the characters.

I had several problems with the movie: (1) The screenplay -- specifically, Kim Basinger's voice over: Movies are not books; they should *show* the action rather than have a voice over *tell* us what's happening. Occasionally I find a movie with a voice over that works, but here it seemed more of a lazy way of writing the script. In fact, it sounded to me as if she was practically reading excerpts from the novel in her voice over.(2) I felt no emotion in the relationship between Jessie and Brother Thomas and also felt that Alex Carter's acting was pretty bad. That's a significant failure for me in defining Jessie's and Thomas' characters -- with no connection between them, it seemed to me as if she just wanted a stud and that for him it was a matter of being sex-deprived. If it had been properly done, the relationship between them would have given much more context to the story.(3) With the book, I understood Jessie's mid-life crisis. In the movie, it seemed more like just plain boredom.On the plus side, I didn't think the movie was so bad as for me to turn off the TV . . . though that thought did occur to me.

I watched it with my mom and we were like...What the hell? We didn't get it at all. I may have this wrong, but a chair had something to do with the death of this woman's father. That movie was terrible! This is not a movie for those who love a good suspense movie. Bad suspense movie! *shakes cane at movie* I'm never seeing it again. And I'm a big fan of lifetime movies, too! They kinda need to quit trying to make movies outta books. It's driving me crazy!!!And Whit was butt-ugly and yet, she loves him more than Hugh, who was a TINY bit nicer-looking.My rating: 1/10