Nora Roberts' Tribute (2009)

Boring, over-political, tech fuzed mess

It's an amazing and heartbreaking story.

The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.

The movie really just wants to entertain people.

If you want to see this Lifetime film, its because you (1) Like Nora Roberts; and/or (2) Read Tribute by Nora Roberts. Don't waste your time or money. Nora Roberts is a superb storyteller, and the novel is fantastic. This adaptation is the worst, hands down, ever. Not only is the acting a joke, but there is no development of the characters. Of course there isn't time to do that in 90 minutes. If you hadn't read the book, you would be clueless as to details: such as what happened to Steve? Why was Mr. Hennessey in prison? Countless other details just, poof, missing and unexplained. I can only imagine Nora Roberts; disappointment; however, she was paid handsomely for the rights to the story, so on to the next. The only redeeming grace was the beautiful property portrayed as Janet's farm. Gorgeous. But it wasn't located in Virginia, as Nora Roberts set it, that's for sure. Virginia doesn't have moss in the trees - so it was obviously somewhere south of there. THIS FILE WAS BEYOND DISAPPOINTING. I wouldn't have given it one star, except there was no option to assign negative numbers. THE WORST, EVER.

This is one of Nora Roberts' weaker stories. The romance and drama are very predictable and not very interesting.Brittany Murphy's appearance here is really poignant. She looks a bit gaunt. But her face is fascinating as always.The story is very predictable - you can see who did it from a mile away. The nasty look of the villain is too obvious.Jason Lewis looks a bit haggard. Watch it to see one of Brittany's last appearances. Other than that it's not great even for this kind of movie. I know you can't expect too much from this kind of lifetime hallmark thing but this one is weak.

I have been a big fan of Nora Roberts for many years. When I hear that some of her books were being turned into movies, I was very happy. I have seen the first four movies that had the same treatment and was expecting the same quality entertainment this time around.I was very happy with the other three movies in this set. Northern Lights, Midnight Bayou, and High Noon met and sometimes even exceeded my expectations. It was only with Tribute that they fell short. It mostly had to do with the casting of Brittany Murphy in the role of Cilla.In the book, Cilla is assertive, active, knowledgeable about all aspects of remodeling the house and physically capable of handling any part of the remodel. Ms. Murphy manages to pull off being assertive, active, and knowledgeable but she really misses on the physical aspect. Just watching her swing a sledge hammer makes me cringe. She swings it with little force and looks as if she's going to smash her foot at any moment. I am amazed that she didn't have an accident with the sledge while filming.All in all it was an okay movie but it's definitely my least favorite of the second four.

I like Brittany Murphy and this is the main reason I sought out this movie. She is good as Cilla McGowan, returning to her grandmother's former home in Virginia (filmed in the New Orleans area) to restore it and live in the area. Cilla had been a child star but realized her acting career was not gaining momentum, so she was instead going to make her living as a contractor, buying distressed properties and fixing them up for sale. In this movie she even studies for and passes her test to become a licensed contractor.Her grandmother had died some 35 years earlier, rules suicide, but some letter Cilla found in a secluded room made her begin to wonder if that was the whole story. And, did her grandmother really take her own life? As soon as Cilla makes her first venture outside with a maul in her hands, neighbor Jason Lewis as Ford Sawyer walks over. He is instantly smitten and spends the rest of the movie trying to gain Cilla's affections. It turns out that Steve is a fairly famous (in fan circles) author of fantasy graphic novels. Cilla comes just when he is developing a new character, and her looks and spunk become the role model for the new character.I would like to say this is a good movie but I can't. It plays out as a "B" movie. Many of the characters, and much of the dialog, don't come across as believable. Plus there are a couple of "red herring" incidents which have nothing to do with the actual story being told. It is sort of interesting, but ultimately not the best time spent watching a movie. By that I mean watching an old favorite again is probably better entertainment for most of us.MAJOR SPOILERS: As Cilla reads the unsigned letters she figures out that her grandmother had been pregnant, and because of the postmark must have been a local man. Strange things begin to happen, someone comes during the night to deface her remodeling project, her truck, etc. It finally turns out to be the wife of her grandmother's lover, who holds such a grudge against the family that she wants Cilla to leave. In the movie's climax the woman lures Cilla into the old home at night, drugs her, and plans to use a funnel and tube to kill her just as she had killed her grandmother 35 years earlier. Ford is at a party and realizes all this just in time to get to Cilla, saves her, and they decide to get married and live happily ever after.