Movie Info
Movie Info
- Run Time
- 1 hour
- Rating
- PG-13
VP Content Ratings
- Violence
- 2/10
- Language
- 2/10
So when you are offering your gift at the altar, if
you remember that your brother or sister has
something against you, leave your gift there before
the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother
or sister,” and then come and offer your gift.
Matthew 5:23-24
Adrienne Willis (Diane Lane) has agreed to watch a friend’s bed and breakfast inn on a North Carolina barrier island in advance of a late-season hurricane. Dr. Paul Flanner (Richard Gere) is the only guest, it being so late in the season. Both are damaged goods, she needing to get away from her two children and her rotten husband, he estranged from a son because of a botched operation. Of course, there is a hurricane on the way, the two deciding to stay, and also, of course, falling in lust, I mean in love during the height of the storm. It must have been the season of miracles, for beyond a little debris, the three-story house on stilts perched on a cliff right at water’s edge, suffers only minor damage. The gooey story is about as convincing as the storm sequence. The film’s one authentic scene takes place when the doctor faces the father of the boy whose operation had been unsuccessful, this being the chief reason for Paul’s coming to the area. Scott Glenn, as the anguished father upset by the cold way in which he had been informed of his son’s death, is totally convincing, though this probably is not enough of a reason to sit through this film. Strictly for romantics and/or fans of the two stars.
For Reflection I do not recommend this for a group to see and discuss, but for those romantics who do watch this, there follows a few suggestions for contemplation.
1) How are each of the main characters deeply wounded?
2) What decisions confront Adrienne? Were she to seek your counsel, what might you advise her?
3) How has Paul already set out on the path for healing his soul? That is, what is his reason for coming to the area? How is his meeting with the grieving father difficult for both of them? Are there people in your life with whom you have—or need to be—reconciled?
4) How does love transform Paul and set him on a new path? How is this a secular version of what the Gospel of John means by “born again” ?