This is a tender, generous movie that likes its characters and presents them as real people, full of flaws and strengths.

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

I didn’t really have many expectations going into the movie (good or bad), but I actually really enjoyed it. I really liked the characters and the banter between them.

the ship was wrong, the dog was wrong, the people at the vet were wrong, the poetry party scene was wrong, Bobbi and Gard's reunion in Bobbi's dooryard was wrong, Hilly's two magic shows were wrong, the way Hilly got the magic kit was wrong. Becca was very wrong, the total lack of anything happening outside haven was wrong, the town name was wrong, the excavating of the ship was wrong, Ruth was wrong, (from her last name to her ultimate fate), the interior of the ship was wrong, David's rescue was wrong, Bobbi's fate was wrong, hell the entire town's fate was wrong, the scene in the post office had the wrong character talking to Nancy Voss about missing mail, Butch Dugan was wrong (from his size, his nick-name is "monster", to his ultimate fate), the state troopers' death scene was all wrong, which has me asking again, did the people that made the movie even read the book at all?

It's the small town of Haven Falls, Maine. Bryant Brown (Robert Carradine) owns the local diner. Sheriff Ruth Merrill (Joanna Cassidy) is a doll collector. Nancy Voss (Traci Lords) is the vain postmaster who is having an affair with fellow postal worker Joe Paulson (Cliff De Young) who is cheating on his wife Deputy Becka Paulson (Allyce Beasley). Bobbi Anderson (Marg Helgenberger) discovers something mysterious in the woods and feels driven to start digging it up. Jim Gardner (Jimmy Smits) is her recovering alcoholic boyfriend. Trooper Butch Duggan (John Ashton) is sweet on Sheriff Ruth who was his partner's wife. People in town start putting together gadgets that are powered by a green light and reading others' minds.I wonder if this is better as a shorter movie rather than a 3 hour mini-series. There isn't any mystery since almost everything is laid out right away anyways. It feels too extended with sections that has no tension. The acting is generally good with solid TV actors. It's definitely not cinematic. It's a middling adaptation of yet another Stephen King novel. It's like an extremely extended Twilight Zone episode.

Something is buried in the woods behind Bobbi's house. And, once it is partly uncovered, it starts exerting an influence on the inhabitants of the small Maine town - strange things happen, strange talents manifest themselves, people get smarter, and the outside world gets cut off. It falls to Bobbi's friend Gard to get some idea of what's happening and find a way to put a stop to it.With the benefit of hindsight, The Tommyknockers is something of an early run at an idea developed more fully in Under The Dome. As an avid King reader, I found my first pass at this book very difficult: I got a lot more out of it at the second attempt. And, like much of King's work, it defies attempts to adapt it effectively. But the elements which reduce the effectiveness of the adaptation are strange (and, I suspect, different for different people). For me, there were two things which really screwed things up - one was the fact that what was buried in the woods was a saucer, and it was the very edge of this which got uncovered: in the miniseries what got dug up was a series of interconnected boxes. And the other thing was the physical deterioration of the townsfolk - one appreciates how difficult this would be to do on screen, but Bobbi was nearly as attractive at the end as she was at the start, and she should have been a gaunt mess.The ensemble cast isn't bad, and does a reasonable job of recreating most of King's characters. The main problem is that there is a distinct 2nd class/TV feel to what should have been a 1st class/movie project.

So, I had just watched Stephen King's IT, and I saw the DVD of this for only ten dollars - I thought why not? The only thing I really knew about it was an actor that I'm a fan of (Craig Parker in case you were wondering) had the tiniest of bit parts in it, and I have a friend who likes Stephen King novels. Bobbi (Marg Helgenberger) digs up a strange artifact in the woods - soon the whole town (small and isolated - who knew?) starts acting very strangely, inventing things they'd never normally be capable of. The only person apparently immune is Bobbi's partner, Jim 'Gard' Gardner, a poet who is a recovering alcoholic. Sadly, this was a bit of a joke after IT. I could see the potential, can still see the potential - maybe a remake should be attempted. The beginning of the film (I should say mini-series or telemovie I guess) drags and drags. Cheesy love scenes, bad acting, worse special effects. Even the name Tommyknockers (once you find out what it means) is ridiculous! I had to laugh sometimes at how bad it was. The only thing I can't really complain about was Jimmy Smits as Gard. He was obviously trying his best with the material they had.Ten dollars wasted.