Even though she gets first billing, you're going to have a long wait before Anne Bancroft shows up in Homecoming. When she does, of course it's worth it. She plays the grandmother of a group of abandoned children, and it takes a while for the children to find her.
Kimberlee Peterson, Trevor O'Brien, William Greenblatt, and Hanna Hall are left by their wayward mother in a parking lot, and they show an enormous amount of resilience as they walk miles and miles in search of a relative to take them in. At first, they try to survive for a couple of days while they wait for their mother to come back, but when they realize the truth, Kimberlee has to act as mother, father, and guide to her younger siblings. She leads them across state lines on foot, does odd jobs at gas station mini-marts so they can afford a carton of milk, and uses abandoned houses' backyards for safe shelter. It's truly remarkable, and it's also a true testament to Hallmark's clean standards that nothing bad ever happened to them on their journey! That's the wonderful thing about watching a Hallmark movie: you know no one's going to harm those kids.
When they finally reach Anne Bancroft, you'll get to see the most beautiful vegetable garden on the planet. I wanted to crawl right into the television and help them pick, pickle, and can cucumbers! Anne is a crusty, cranky old lady on a farm who stays as much of a hermit as she can, and she certainly doesn't have room in her life for four children. But since this is a Hallmark movie, do you think everyone will bond and learn to love each other? If you don't know the answer to that question, you obviously haven't seen enough Hallmark movies. This one's pretty cute, especially because the story's interesting. Plus, Anne has a great feathery hairdo!
