Too much of everything

Sadly Over-hyped

It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional

It's a movie as timely as it is provocative and amazingly, for much of its running time, it is weirdly funny.

The Water is Wide is based on Pat Conroy's book of the same title. It recounts a year he spent teaching African-American children on a remote barrier island off the South Carolina coast in the late 1960s. Mr. Conroy was young, naive, idealistic, and controversial. There are people still living in the South Carolina Lowcountry who regret the outcome of the Civil War and the emancipation of slaves, who will tell you that this work is fictional and unfair to the school superintendent and the black teacher. From my own experience working in Georgia schools during the same period, I know that Conroy's observations are right on target.It is interesting to contrast this Hallmark Hall of Fame movie with the earlier Conrack. While Conrack was contemporary reporting, this movie is more historical. Daufauskie Island (called Yamacraw in the book and both films) is fast becoming an exclusive resort community. Several generations of teachers have passed through the school and it has come under public scrutiny.This film makes a genuine effort to look at the situation of the black teacher trying to satisfy a white administration. Alfre Woodard states that Mrs. Brown is a very unique sort of black woman that existed during that period. She plays the character with more subtlety than Madge Sinclair did. Jeff Hephner does a fine job as the idealist novice teacher in unfamiliar surroundings. He plays Conroy with less anger than Jon Voight did, but is more believable.

In this Hallmark Hall of Fame presentation based on the real-life experiences of Pat Conroy, the fictional Conroy gets an opportunity to teach poor black children on Yamacraw Island in Beaumont County, South Carolina. Dr. Piedmont (Frank Langella), the county school superintendent, has recently been put in charge of the island school, once supervised by Mr. Bennington (James Murtaugh). His attitude intimidates Conroy, who imagines he is being criticized by his demanding marine father. Still, Conroy gets the job.Despite the fact that he is engaged to Barbara (Julianne Nicholson), who has a daughter Jenny, Conroy will have to live on the island accessible only by boat. And only Zeke runs a boat to Yamacraw; no one else dares try to navigate these waters. Once on the island, Conroy meets Ted Stone, a war veteran who is police chief, fire marshal and pretty much everything else. His wife Lou drives the school bus and also serves as the postmistress and, for lack of a better word, librarian (the only books are about war, donated by Stone).The year is 1969, but the isolated Yamacraw School lags far behind mainland schools, despite the best efforts of Mrs. Brown, the principal, who serves as the other teacher. Mrs. Brown commands respect and expects everyone to follow the rules, but Conroy soon realizes that while they are intelligent enough, the children don't seem to be learning very much. For a black woman, Mrs. Brown doesn't seem to have a much higher opinion of the black children's potential than the whites on the mainland.Mrs. Brown insists on following the state curriculum and will not tolerate letting the children have fun. But Conroy gets the best results with the children when he does what we now call 'going outside the box'. Bennington, who is now deputy superintendent, is willing to let Conroy get away with some things, but Mrs. Brown and Dr. Piedmont do not approve, and the children's parents have their doubts as well. Conroy discovers audio-visual equipment that has been stored and never used (incredibly, there is electric power here), and since he was fired from his last job as a teacher and basketball coach for favoring the black players, he knows basketball and teaches the boys to play.One cultural element that don't get much screen time was the Gullah dialect and culture. These days, a lot of attention is being paid to preserving this mix of African and English. Mrs. Brown wants to discourage this, but the kids do well in a brief scene speaking Gullah, from what I could tell.Jeff Hephner does quite a good job and is easy to like as Conroy. Alfre Woodard gives her usual fine performance. The children also do quite well. It is amazing that in a place like this the kids are so smart, but they have demanding parents and guardians. LaTanya Richardson stands out as Edna, who is raising Saul (Cole Hawkins). Among the children who impress are Ivana Grace as Ethel and Rodney Reid as Prophet.This is a family film with a minimum of offensive content. Conroy went to military school and his marine father used bad language, but what is heard here won't likely offend. Parents opposed to corporal punishment won't be happy, and kids won't like seeing other children paddled, but that's about it.The scenery around Yamacraw Island is beautiful. The setting of the real-life Conroy's experiences is Daufuskie Island, though the filming was actually done around Wilmington, North Carolina.I never saw 'Conrack', which was also based on Conroy's novel about his real experiences, but I would like to now. This was a fine effort, if overly idealistic.

This movie was amazing! I'm a college freshman and I happened to turn on the TV because i was bored after completing my homework, and saw the previews for this movie that was coming up next. I was awestruck by the preview and had to watch it. It is now my favorite movie! I can't believe I almost sat here on my computer all night- I would've totally missed out! This movie made me cry at least 5 times! the actors and actresses were amazing! I had no idea that this movie was also a book, or that it was remade, but I was totally impressed with it! i will definitely buy this movie! I had gone on a missions trip to Honduras this past summer (2005) and we stayed and worked at a school, and this movie really reminded me of the school children and their imaginations and joy in learning!

I see from an internet search that Pat Conroy, an able novelist (I've read The Great Santini, which tells you all you need to know about the Marine Corps, good and bad) "fictionalized" his experiences as a teacher in writing "The Water is Wide". In the Hallmark production, his character is named Pat Conroy, so the "fictionalization" didn't go too far. Even with a Marine fighter pilot for a father (which is also referred to in "The Water"), Pat has a whole lot of brass for a brand new teacher, and he almost never loses his smug smile (which, come to think of it, I think would drive a Marine father crazy).But I think that Conroy's characterization, or the portrayal by Jeff Hephner, or direction by John Kent Harrison, or all of the above, might be as true-to-life as the hero's name or his Marine fighter pilot father. So, how could a teacher facing so many difficulties have an unfailingly smug smile? If he took the absolutely worst teaching job in the State of South Carolina, which absolutely no other teacher wanted, it would give him a certain confidence. They might still fire him, but he would know every step of the way that he was doing it for love. I know from my own experiences that that situation gives you a certain buccaneer confidence. Maybe I smile smugly like that a lot. I guess I have a right. If you have right on your side, and it's your only friend, I guess you have a right to tease people a little about what your secret is.