The Blackwater Lightship

This made for TV Film had a wonderful cast of actors, fantastic photography of the coast line of Ireland with its quaint cottages and lighthouse. Keith McErlean (Declan),"At Death's Door",'99 became sick with AIDS and his family came to his aid along with his faithful loving men friends. His mother, Dianne Wiest,"I am Sam",'02 and grandmother, Angela Lansbury (Dora),"Gaslight",'44", along with his sister found out he was gay and did not realize how deeply he was loved. Coping with the AIDS in the family magically drew all the immediate family together and they came to terms with their great misunderstanding of each other. Old and Young a like had a great learning experience and were able to accept the FEELINGS they all deeply shared with its other. Words cannot describe the great message this film had to offer along with the great physical suffering AIDS can cause to the human body. If you missed this picture, view it the next time it is shown on TV!!

A Hallmark Hall of Fame production, this one is about AIDs. Need I say more? Lots of flashbacks, this film is well done and worth your time, which is more than I can say about alot of rubbish out there today. Shot on the banks of Ireland somewhere, I forgot the location but a roadsign early in the film does say where, this is a film about forgiveness, or at least understanding. A mother looses her spouse to cancer and her mother keeps the fact away from a daughter and son to spare them grief. Instead, it promotes life long grief. The daughter is more mother to the brother than the mother is. Lots of bickering and hate in this one. But if you want good acting, good plot and plenty of nice gay men taking care of the brother, watch this, you will not go away mad or disappointed. Two elbows up for Blackwater Lightship. James Welch Henderson Arkansas 4/17/2021.

I saw 'The Blackwater Lightship' originally on the Hallmark Playhouse on television..complete with numerous commercials! I loved the film so I bought the DVD from Hallmark...minus commercials...what a treat...the film doesn't play like usual TV movies...with a 'hanger' right before the commercial to hold your interest and get one to return to the film after the commercial.

This film plays smoothly as one piece....not fragmented and spotty like most TV films.

The cast is magnificent....the sublime Angela Lansbury playing the Irish granny...Diane Wiest as the daughter of GRanny, and with several actors who were unfamiliar to me.

However two actors I am familiar with are Sam Robards (have to see more of his work) and Brian F. O' Bryan (I know I didn't get this name correctly, but he is currently collecting all the awards on Broadway this season for his superb work in 'Doubt') They are exceptional as two gay friends of Wiest's son who is dying of Aids.

With an Irish seaside setting (the Blackwater Lightship) and superb character transformations...this is a film I recommend unhesitatingly.

Although a bit of weepy, well done, particularly Angela Landsbury's performance. I grew up in Ireland and I was completely convinced that she was an Irish actress for the first half hour before I realized that this was the amazing Ms. Landsbury. This is a heartwarming story of the reconciliation of three generations of women come together because of the terminal illness of the 30yr old grandson.

As the father of young man who died of AIDS before we really knew much about this disease, I was deeply moved by this touching story of a young man and his sister and their relationship to their mother and grandmother. This is the kind of story for which Hallmark Hall of Fame is noted and they did not fail again to bring us some of best of TV drama available.