Rose Hill

This film caught me off guard when I viewed young boys picking adults pockets in a crowd in NYC and policemen blowing their whistles like in London, England. Then you observe a young girl placing a basket on a wagon and the boys taking off with a baby in the basket. These boys manage to purchase a train ticket and head West with the baby girl, Mary Rose,(Jennifer Garner). It was hard to believe these boys planned on taking care of Mary Rose since they were very poor and very young. This picture clearly shows the great love these young boys had for their adopted sister and people of all different races and backgrounds who were able to join their family of love. This is a film I could very well see over and over again.

The storyline is heart-warming and the cinematography is beautiful. However, except for Jeffrey Sams, Kristin Griffith, and the young boys, performance of the rest of the cast is rather wooden. More experienced male actors and lead actress would have brought out more sentiment the story deserves. Jennifer Garner is especially miscast as the female lead. Who would believe she was a 19-year girl in the movie ? She looks more like the four brothers' mother ! In my opinion, the story could have expanded on occasions how much the brothers had doted on the little sister Mary Rose and how she repaid them with ingratitude. Good entertainment, nonetheless, for the family on a Saturday night. But don't expect it to be another Lonesome Dove or even Lily Dale.

I love the book. Julie Garwood was an amazing author. Whoever made this mockery of her very beautiful story of four boys who moved heaven and earth to save a baby girl they found in the trash, needs to actually read the books. This movie could have been made better. I was so disappointed that I couldn't finish.

Rose Hill, which was adapted to screen "loosely" based on Julie Garwood's novel "For the Roses" by Earl Wallace (who also wrote "The Wild Women of Chastity Gulch"), is a good story in itself. If I had not read the book first, I might have enjoyed it a whole lot more. In the movie, the characters' names remained the same as in the book, however their personalities, IQ's and roles in Mary Rose's life were altered greatly.

This is a very interesting and fun family movie with drama, romance, adventure, and a bit of humor in the Old West and the more "civilized" East. The acting is good, and the story is really good. I gave it an 8/10.