wchelsea25

Can a beautifully sung "Oh! What A Beautiful Morning" portend anything but a good dose of tragedy, heartbreak, and reconciliation? Filmmakers Sullivan and Thomas chose wisely to incorporate three character-defining songs from "Oklahoma," the aforementioned "Morning", "Out of My Dreams," and "I Can't Say No." These are seamlessly juxtaposed with a slowly revealed family tragedy, a lawsuit, and a community theater production of "Romeo and Juliet."

The family is in mourning. This family of three runs the range: the stoic mother, the pressure cooker of rage father, and the belligerant teenaged daughter. None of them can discuss the recent tragic death of a son.

A serendipitous meeting shoves father Dan into participating in a community theater production of "Romeo and Juliet." The transformative magic of theater, stepping into someone else's shoes, is the catalyst for Dan's reckoning with himself, and his family.

Slowly, and not without some good doses of humor, the story and the characters unfold. The tragedy is as horrifying as the conclusion of "Romeo and Juliet." The sure-handed direction and the keen script is brought to life by the first-rate cast of characters.

Highly recommended.

Bonnie Garmus, the talented novelist of "Lessons in Chemistry" has smartly kept her name off this disastrous adaptation of her very clever, enjoyable book. As other reviewers in the naysayers camp, I too found the plot revisions, the plot refocus, the casting decisions are on par for the usual dumbing down for the general audience. Readers of the book loved the uncompromising, traumatized, mournful, fact-driven Elizabeth Zott. She is nowhere to be found in this series. Mad Zott, so central to the book's plot and to Elizabeth's plight is not a central character. A beauty pagent as a plot device? Really? Those who have not read the book will probably enjoy the series. For those who read and enjoyed the book, this series will ruin that marvelous reading experience. I advise skipping this series.