This little gem (scheduled to be out on DVD February 15 at select Hallmark Stores)will make a great addition to any DVD collection. Just the basics here: WWII vet Noah Locke (Chris Klein) returns home to find a world of change on the home front, ala "The Best Years of Our Lives", and he must take his life in a new direction. A kind old gent Hoke Moore (Robert Prosky) directs him to the valley where a change of his life's direction is offered. Great job by Gretchen Mol as the leading lady Eleanor Chatwin. Mol's character undergoes changes of her own after meeting Noah. She is a widow of a WWII vet who ended his life upon returning home from the war and her life is a closed loop. Between caring for her late husband's grandmother(who seems to survive on chocolate bars) and running the farm, she appears to have little else in her life. Just compare the change in her physical appearance from their initial meeting in a general store to the the scene of a good old' sit down catfish dinner in her home....Southern Style! A terrific supporting cast rounds out this Hallmark Hall of Fame gem. The filming locations in Oregon and California fill in nicely for rural, post WWII North Carolina.Tragedy strikes both their lives and threatens to end the blossoming romance between Noah and Eleanor. Noah soon realizes that he was guided to the valley. Several media critics panned this flick, but it came in at #10 for the week in the ratings, tied with "24", so see it for yourself and make your own decision.

Noah Locke has served in Europe during World War II, earning a Purple Heart. Still, he comes home to find that the farm he lived on belongs to someone else, and his brother Travis is in prison (though he says all he did was drive the car). Travis was told he could go to his mother's funeral but he couldn't do go through with that if he had to be chained, feeling it would bring shame to his family. The brothers have also lost their father.As he explains later, Noah travels from place to place across the South, camping out and fishing in various rivers. While fishing, he meets an old man named Hoke with a special gift, who tells him about this wonderful community in a nearby valley, where there is a legendary fish no one can catch.Noah follows Hoke's advice. Taylor runs the store in the town, and it is there that Noah befriends Matthew, who never speaks. Matthew's mother is deceased and his father may be working somewhere in Tennessee. His grandparents Howard and Ada, who invite Noah to their church, are raising Matthew.Also at Taylor's store, Noah meets Eleanor, who gives Noah some work to do and a place to live. Eleanor's late husband fought in the war, and now she is trying to run a farm on her own while taking care of her elderly grandmother Beatrice, known as Granny.Noah makes a living partly from fishing, and Taylor also gets him to do work at his store Moody and Peavo won't. Moody and Peavo are lazy and just want to talk and otherwise have fun. They are the movie's primary comic relief.Noah has a positive influence on this community, particularly on Matthew and Eleanor. The big question: will he win the big fishing contest, which attracts many outsiders? Will Noah catch that fish no one else can? And will Noah and Eleanor become a couple?There's not really anything here for parents to be concerned about. Noah has memories of the war, but these are not a big problem. The reality of the war has caused some sadness, though. And there is a tragedy by movie's end which could be upsetting to children, though it brings out the best in several of the actors. But strong family values are presented here. Noah always says, "Yes, sir" and "Yes, ma'am", for example. And he believes in hard work, as do most of the people in town. I've mentioned the exceptions.The acting is very good here. Zach Mills is particularly impressive because he can give a great performance without saying a word, and he makes us care about Matthew.It was worthy of the name Hallmark Hall of Fame.

OK, the plot: a soldier returns from WW2 with bad dreams and finds that the home he's grown up in has been sold and his kid brother is in jail for a youthful prank apparently. He wonders around, by bus I guess and fishes most of the rivers, large and small, of the Southeast. On one of these rivers, he meets an old man who recommends he hike over the ridge where he'll meet some nice people. He does and they are. A pretty widow, (Gretchen Mol) allows him to stay in a fishing cabin her husband frequented before he committed suicide. None of the characters are at all well developed; I guess I have to blame the script.I gave it a five only because I was able to sit through it. I've liked Gretchen Mol in other movies so it's no surprise she was appealing in this one. I question whether a woman in 1946-7(?) would be so forthright about approaching a man who interested her. And there was no need to kill off a perfectly cute kid just for cheap sentiment, before we even get a chance to hear what he has to SAY.

Be prepared to bring a box of tissues to this heartbreaking film.A soldier returns home from World War 11 to his North Carolina home. His 17 year old brother is in prison for a crime which is not described. When our soldier, played by Chris Klein, named Noah, asks for leniency, he is denied this. On top of all this, his parents have died during the war years. The farm was sold off so Noah has to become a wanderer.He goes to a small town and meets an angel who directed him to go there. He hears the tale of a big fish in a lake. There he meets a young child who lives with his grandparents. The boy's mother is dead and the father is not there. Noah develops a strong bond with the boy who doesn't talk. Noah lives in a shed provided by widow Gretchen Mol, whose husband came home from the war and promptly put a bullet in his head. She lives with his grandmother who has a fetish for chocolate.The widow gets Noah a shed and shows him the chair where the owner of the latter died.If this isn't enough, tragedy ensues when the silent child pursues the fish. The town mourns by singing a hymn that was sung in the 1953 film version of "Titanic" with Barbara Stanwyck and Clifton Webb. Yes, Noah will leave but will find himself back in the town.The story needed to have much more of a character development. This is sadly lacking here. The viewer must have come away very depressed as I did.The film is a heartbreak. Is Noah doing the same search that Tyrone Power was looking for the meaning of life in 1946's "The Razor's Edge."Life, as we know it, can be very depressing. We don't need to be reminded of it by this production.1945 was never depicted more bleak than this. Maybe, they woke up 3 years later when Dewey was upset by Truman.