Product: Anne of Green Gables: The Continuing Story
Rating: 1.0
Don't bother, unless you just love the actors
This installment is a disaster. If you are a fan of the Anne books, don't bother - the only reason to watch this is that some of the cast were reunited.There is absolutely nothing in this tale that comes from the Anne books, and one has to wonder why they bothered to make it at all, except perhaps to satisfy a wistful demand for another sequel from the tv audience. The cast have noticeably aged, and this forces the need for some grown-up behavior onto them. This wouldn't be so bad except that the goings-on really don't seem to be in character, and the overall tone of the film is anything but lighthearted. Nearly the whole thing takes place during, and focuses on, WWII.The piece begins by establishing loud and clear that after five years, Gil and Anne still haven't managed to get married, and there's no date in sight. Gil gets a job offer from a hospital in NYC that cares more about its reputation than the good of its patients, and Anne goes with him and gets an editing job at a publishing firm. The firm's star author is a predictable rogue named Jack Garrison who swipes the manuscript for her latest work, and convinces her to let him co-author it. Fancy the surprise when the book comes in with only his name on it.From here, Anne and Gilbert go back home to find Green Gables fallen into disrepair under the care of a slovenly family, from whom Gilbert buys the place. He wrestles with his conscience about joining the war effort as all of their male friends sign up and leave and hint that Gil is a coward, and he finally does join. He and Anne then have a rushed wedding a few days before he leaves for Europe.The remaining tedious 75% of this tale has Anne running around France trying to find Gilbert after her letters to him are returned as undeliverable, and on top of this she runs into writer-turned-spy/agent Jack Garrison and is saddled with his illegitimate child when his girlfiend is killed. The only reason we bothered to watch the end of it was to see how much worse it could get. There is one 10-second redeeming scene at the end when Anne wins custody of Jack's now-orphaned son, whom she hasn't seen in a year, and she picks him up at the train station in a scene reminiscent of her own arrival. The kid is a cutie and the scene is a touching return to the style and feel of the books - too bad the creators of this film didn't think it was worth sticking to for the rest of the story.