Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.

The acting is good, and the firecracker script has some excellent ideas.

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

Obviously, everyone has their personal opinions on which version of The Miracle Worker is the best, the 1960s one, the 1970s one, or this 2000s one. The truth is, when you have such a moving, powerful story as the life of Helen Keller, then it can be filmed many times and each version will have its own quality and value to it. After all, great stories can be told more than once.This Wonderful World of Disney made-for-television version is lovely and handsome, with a charming "family film" quality that makes it a great version for kids, young and old, to view it and understand it. It accurately follows the true story of how Annie Sullivan taught communication to blind, deaf, and dumb Helen Keller. (Any strict comparisons to the stage play, upon which this is based, or the excellent 1960s film are not necessary; after all, if you want to view the 60s film or the stage play, go view them.) Hallie Kate Eisenberg is perhaps the most underrated little actress on the planet, giving a totally believable and intricate performance as Helen. Just watching her movements and body language in each scene makes you fully believe that she is a blind and deaf child. Patty Duke deservedly won an Academy Award for her performance as Helen Keller in the 60s film. I think Hallie Kate Eisenberg deserves an Emmy for this one! In addition, Hallie Kate is the first screen Helen Keller who is literally the spitting image of the real Helen Keller, both in age and in looks.Alison Elliott is very real and genuine as the plucky Annie Sullivan, as is the rest of the cast, which includes hard-working character actor David Strathairn as Helen's father. This is a lovely, well-made, believable version of Helen Keller's extraordinary story, and it stands completely on its own in comparison to previous versions. It is highly recommended for families, and could be a great version for children who have not yet heard about Helen Keller.

The true story of Anne Sullivan, the teacher of Helen Keller, and her struggles to teach a deaf, mute, and blind girl. Set in the south on an Alabama tobacco plantation the story combines elements of family life, psychology and persistence. The movie teaches not to pity or treat someone as a lesser because of a handicap. The acting was good. The script writing however was mediocre and lacked elements of excitement. The plot line at times became uninteresting, but the ending was dramatic and captivating. I found this movie to be of mediocre quality. I would not consider the movie extremely entertaining, but would suggest watching it to learn more about Helen Keller.

This story is just screaming to be a fine movie. What is better subject matter for a presentation by signs, than a story of presentation by signs. And there has been a moderately successful film made in 1962, at least it had the weight of trembling actors.This version has been Disneyfied in predicable ways: dumbed, cleaned and sweetened accordingly. But oddly enough for a film about blindness, it is blazingly bright and colorful. I think this is a simple accident of what Disney knows about how TeeVee bleaches colors.And it has two actors who have done well in fine films. Nominally, they are supposed to have a huge metaphysical tussle, here more of a staring contest. David Strathairn's presence in 'Limbo' is really something you need to see. Any one of tens of thousands could have done what he does here.Alison Elliott just blew me away in 'Wings of a Dove.' This woman has enough power to suggest what is suspected of the 'real' Anne, that much of the intelligence of her student was imposed. This would have been fertile stuff for an intelligent film. Oh well, at least she does something.That can't be said for the Helen here who is little more than the dolls in this story. Would have made more sense if that Anne redactor layer was mined.Ted's Evaluation -- 1 of 3: You can find something better to do with this part of your life.

This very vanilla and completely unnecessary remake (the 2nd) of the 1962 film does manage to achieve some solid dramatic moments, but much of Gibson's play has been overly softened and sentimentalized to achieve what passes as "family entertainment" these days. This is one time when smoothing out all the rough edges for the sake of the children (or is it for the over-concerned adults?) has a negative impact.The original play and movie are not absolute masterworks: some of Gibson's writing is too melodramatic and the supporting characters have few dimensions (not helped by the overacting of Victor Jory and Inga Swensen in the '62 film). But the taut direction of Arthur Penn and the sheer intensity of the Bancoft-Duke pairing resulted in an extraordinarily effective piece nonetheless.Here we have the good Alison Elliott as Sullivan and Hallie Kate Eisenberg as a too-scrubbed-clean Helen (when one character remarks at how clean she is after Sullivan has her to herself for a week, you really don't see a difference). Eisenberg is competent, but not moving. Hers is a Helen that would work well in a Disney animated version of the story.Elliot fares better, but the mediocre direction and script undermine her at times. In trying to give the other characters some added dimensions not in the play, the teleplay feels the need to konk us over the head about some of their issues. When confronted about his jealousy of Helen, half-brother James actually says, "If Helen gets better, who else can I blame for my unhappiness?" Yikes. Lucas Black looks very uncomfortable saying that clunky line, and you can't blame him.David Strathairn should have better things to do than play Captain Keller, and his performance has little energy or impact. Kate Greenhouse as Kate Keller loses her southern accent after less than a minute and is rather amateurish at times.Another vote to stick with the original. I've never seen the 1979 remake - which I gather is better than this one.