The Miracle Worker

This very vanilla and completely unnecessary remake (the 2nd) of the 1962 film does manage to achieve some solid dramatic moments, but much of Gibson's play has been overly softened and sentimentalized to achieve what passes as "family entertainment" these days. This is one time when smoothing out all the rough edges for the sake of the children (or is it for the over-concerned adults?) has a negative impact.

The original play and movie are not absolute masterworks: some of Gibson's writing is too melodramatic and the supporting characters have few dimensions (not helped by the overacting of Victor Jory and Inga Swensen in the '62 film). But the taut direction of Arthur Penn and the sheer intensity of the Bancoft-Duke pairing resulted in an extraordinarily effective piece nonetheless.

Here we have the good Alison Elliott as Sullivan and Hallie Kate Eisenberg as a too-scrubbed-clean Helen (when one character remarks at how clean she is after Sullivan has her to herself for a week, you really don't see a difference). Eisenberg is competent, but not moving. Hers is a Helen that would work well in a Disney animated version of the story.

Elliot fares better, but the mediocre direction and script undermine her at times. In trying to give the other characters some added dimensions not in the play, the teleplay feels the need to konk us over the head about some of their issues. When confronted about his jealousy of Helen, half-brother James actually says, "If Helen gets better, who else can I blame for my unhappiness?" Yikes. Lucas Black looks very uncomfortable saying that clunky line, and you can't blame him.

David Strathairn should have better things to do than play Captain Keller, and his performance has little energy or impact. Kate Greenhouse as Kate Keller loses her southern accent after less than a minute and is rather amateurish at times.

Another vote to stick with the original. I've never seen the 1979 remake - which I gather is better than this one.

I came across this remake of the 1962 classic with Anne Bancroft and Patty Duke on WE television and was very, very impressed, both with Hallie Eisenberg, who played Helen, and with Allison Elliott, who played Annie Sullivan. I had, of course, seen the original black and white, but was pleasantly surprised with this remake of the original film. Hallie is an amazing young actress. It was beautifully filmed as well, and I always enjoy seeing David Strathairn, who played Helen's father. What an amazing story of the relationship between Helen Keller and the woman who taught her how to relate to the world around her, even those this child was locked in darkness without sight, sound or speech. A beautiful, moving remake with wonderful acting.

I definitely see this movie as the children's version of Helen Keller's story. The language used in this film is easier to understand, but not true to the time period. The horrors of Annie's childhood were also either overlooked, or barely touched. Because the character's have untouched pasts, it was harder to get emotionally involved in the story. The acting wasn't bad by any means, but when compared to the emotional roller-coaster that the Patty Duke version took you on, this remake falls short. I would show this movie to my younger children only if I thought they weren't mature enough to handle the ealier version of the film.

I have enjoyed both of the earlier versions of The Miracle Worker so much so that I wanted to see this one. While the performance by Alison Elliott as Anne Sullivan was very well done, she was handicapped by the watered down dialogue and tension between her character and that of Helen. For someone who has never seen either the 1962 version with Anne Bancroft as Anne and Patty Duke as Helen or the 1979 version with Patty Duke as Anne and Melissa Gilbert as Helen (which is my favorite - probably because I saw it first), this version may be enjoyable, but I found it to be deflatingly understated. If you have seen either of the earlier renditions, do not expect the dramatic scenes to be as emotional or the dialogue to be as effective in this latest remake.

The fact that Helen Keller would be played by that annoying girl in those ubiquitous Pepsi commercials did not give me much hope for this television remake of the classic tale. I'm happy to report that I found myself very pleasantly surprised. Hallie Kate Eisenberg did, in fact, create a Helen with both subtlety and nuance. As well, Alison Elliot's portrayal of Annie Sullivan showed both grace and intelligent restraint. This relatively gentle production never recreates the dense and claustrophobic tragedy of the 1962 movie (starring Patty Duke and Anne Bancroft) and thus the 'awakening' lacks the same glorious contrast. However, it does remain true to the spirit of the story and Helen's amazing triumph will no doubt continue to inspire a whole new generation.