Tote lügen nicht

This film is simply appalling. I've watched it twice and the second viewing made me even angrier than the first.

The central character must scatter her husband's ashes in his desired location but there's a hitch: she suffers from an anxiety disorder which makes it difficult for her to leave home (agoraphobia).

What could have been an interesting illustration of the difficulties of living with an anxiety disorder is ruined by melodramatic acting and the depiction of the agoraphobic woman as neurotic, helpless, a burden on her kids and generally pathetic. In the end she irritated me so much I couldn't care less what happened to her.

People with agoraphobia are NOTHING like this film suggests, and it is disgraceful to portray them in this way. Trust me on this one. I've been agoraphobic for 14 years.

In the standard view, this is a purely awful movie. However, it rates a near perfect score on the unintentional comedy scale. I can think of few actual comedies that make me laugh as hard as I did watching this movie. Andy Griffith's ghost dressed in Native American garb dancing sends me into hysterics everytime. I wouldn't waste the gas or energy driving to the video store to rent it, but if you happen to be laying on the couch at 3 in the morning and it comes on TV, check it out.

This is a TV movie featuring some popular television stars including Matlock's Andy Griffith and Little Men's Michelle Burke. Burke and Lucinda Jenney play sisters who, along with their anxiety-plagued mom (Olympia Dukakis), attempt to fulfill their dad/husband Hiram's (Griffith) wish of having his ashes scattered in a place called Mountains Somewhere. Their quest and personal problems are aided by Hiram's ghost.

The acting was pretty good and the plot was somewhat fast-paced, keeping the story engaging what from I remembered. Hiram's ghost aiding his family as the sisters' relationship grow closer and the mother deals with her anxiety provide some heart-felt drama and some feel-good emotions. It's a perfect TV movie to bring the family together.

Grade B

I enjoyed this movie. Haven't seen Andy Griffith in ages and felt he fit this role perfectly. I've associated him with comedy but am pleased to see that he's versatile.

I wasn't troubled that Dotty's "anxiety disorder" may not have been verbatim from a psychiatric textbook. There are zillions of whatever-phobias and neuroses, and these can take on a broad variety of quantitative and qualitative forms. She is clearly a sensitive with extra-sensory powers as was understood by the local Indians but not by any Anglos. It is not surprising that this character is vulnerable and nominally eccentric.

Although this is taken to be a light "family movie", it is actually more sophisticated than it seems. Also, Hiram's twist at the end came as a pleasant surprise to me and tied all the preceding action together in a bundle. It's fun to contemplate the possibility of such spiritual guidance.

Though not in the whole film, Andy Griffith again plays his role best in this CBS tv-movie. The plot is easy-Griffith's character dies and his last wish is that his wife and kids scatter his ashes is the place he named (Mountains Somewhere). Though it will never be seen on TV and never be released on video, if you do get the chance to watch this--TAKE IT.