Follow the Stars Home

Sometimes blessings come in unexpected ways. Directed By:  Dick Lowry Starring:  Kimberly Williams, Campbell Scott, Eric Close, Blair Brown, Alexa Vega, and Roxanne Hart Length:  1 hour, 43 minutes Content Filters:  None

The Hallmark Hall of Fame presents a love story of the best kind, Follow the Stars Home, based on Luanne Rice’s best-selling novel. Dianne Parker and Mark McCune seem to have the perfect marriage—until they discover that their baby will be born with serious genetic abnormalities, neurological problems, and will probably die young. Mark can’t handle the situation and walks out of the marriage. Five years later, their daughter Julia is a treasured part of Dianne’s life. She has learned that she can accept help from her mother, Hannah, a young teenage “mother’s helper,” Amy, and David McCune, her ex-husband’s brother, who is Julia’s pediatrician. In return, Hannah, Amy, and David are blessed by their relationships with Dianne and Julia. Only when an unexpected accident brings Mark back into her life is Dianne forced to make choices for her life and Julia’s future.

The unconditional love, kindness, and reliability in difficult times shown in Follow the Stars Home are inspiring. Like so many Hallmark productions, this movie acknowledges that life can be difficult but that we can meet our difficulties with courage and love. Amy, who mourns the loss of her father, lives with her alcoholic mother, fears her mother’s cruel boyfriend, and believes that she must prevent any harm to those she loves, is in a bad situation. Yet, her situation, while undoubtedly real and risky, is not dramatized in an overly graphic or sensational way, and the manner in which Dianne, David, and Tess (Amy’s mother) try to help her, as well as Amy’s sweet relationship with Julia, all combine to give Amy (and the viewer) hope. This reviewer read the book on which the drama is based, and the Hallmark production is superior to the book and better represents the time worth giving to the story.

The land- and seascapes of "Hawthorne, CA" play a lovely role in the background of the production. The acting is of award caliber, especially by Alexa Vega as Amy, Kimberly Williams as Dianne, Blair Brown as Hannah, Campbell Scott as David, and Roxanne Hart as Tess. This is not the story of a mother who martyrs herself as a victim of her child’s disabilities. This is the story of a group of caring people who bring a physically disabled child and a spiritually disabled child within the circle of their care. The synergy among them creates greater love and joy for all.

Reviewed By:  Lisa Hawkins
Screenplay Writer:  Sally Beth Robinson
Author of Book:  Luanne Rice
Production Studio:  Hallmark Hall of Fame