Trying to Keep the Masses Happy
Tonight's the night everyone's waiting for—and with only hours from the premiere of "Blue Smoke" Lifetime chatted with the director and screenwriter to hear about their experiences with the movie.
"This was a great story—intricate in it's construction with some great characters and relationships, all bound up in their fascination and passionate response to the deadly danger and beauty of fire, to which we can all relate," says director David Carson. "I am very used to an extremely caring fan base - and in this instance so much attention was paid by all departments to the original detail that Nora had created."
Let's see what screenwriter Ronni Kern had to say about staying true to the novel: "The best part of adapting "Blue Smoke" was that I got to spend every working hour with Nora's great characters and dialogue. The downside, of course, was that she filled 437 pages with them and I had to shoehorn them into an 87-minute movie," says Kern. "With all the cutting, I was inevitably nervous about both Nora's response and that of her readers. I personally grieve over losing so much of the young Reena for reasons beyond my control. Nora's writing is so vivid and so much of her dialogue was kept intact, however, that I'm hoping Reena's fans will be able to overlook what is missing." Talk about a tricky job!
Can't wait for this movie tonight. Having a firefighter in the family.... I'll be anxious to see how the scenes play out.
Posted by: Marilyn S | Monday, February 12, 2007 at 07:33 PM
I'm just sad I missed the other shows. Is there a plan in the future to air them again soon???
Thanks
Stephanie
Posted by: Stephanie | Monday, February 12, 2007 at 10:23 PM
Anyone who missed the password to read the next excerpt it's "family". I'm watching Blue Smoke and there are alot of differences. Hugh died from a gun shot and burned on the way to meet Rena for a weekend not an explosion in a flowershop. And they had only started seeing each other not getting engaged. Joey's father was dying of cancer not Joey. I'm glad that John didn't die.
Posted by: Eileen | Monday, February 12, 2007 at 11:00 PM
Blue Smoke was by far the best movie yet. Yes, somethings were changed,but the TV storyline was coherant and made sense. The actors were believeable and did a great job of enhancing and projecting to audience the essence of the story. The actress who played Reena was great!!!
Posted by: Ruth | Tuesday, February 13, 2007 at 09:08 AM
I was very disappointed in this adaptation. The actress that was cast was terrible. Not only can she not act but didn't have the right demeanor for the character.
Posted by: Danalee | Tuesday, February 13, 2007 at 10:00 AM
I am an avid Nora Roberts fan and I got to tell you, so far all of the movies have been a disappointment to me. The thing that makes her books great is that you get lost in the story to the point that you have clear images of everything and everyone who plays a part. Angel's Fall was badly cast with sub-standard acting; Montana Sky was aalllllllllllll wrong the only thing they got right was that it was on a ranch in Montana; and finally Blue Smoke one of my favorites, could put the book down and spent 30 minutes yelling at the TV because the storyline was all wrong, I couldn't finish watching ANY of the adaptations because they in no way shape or form could do justice to the original template. Highly anticipated and thoroughly disappointed.
Posted by: Elizabeth | Tuesday, February 13, 2007 at 12:23 PM
I love to read Nora's books. She has such depth and detail in her books. You really get to know her characters. IT's been awhile since I read Blue Smoke. I am sure I have forgotten a lot of details, but it was so much better that Montana Sky. That one was really a disappointment!
Posted by: Laura | Wednesday, February 14, 2007 at 08:42 PM
All 3 movies have been a let-down, the very worst being the first one (Angels Fall). In this last movie, Blue Smoke, the leading guy ended up seeming like a wimp, but he wasn't wimpy in the book. All 3 movies have been annoying with sub-standard casting and acting. Even allowing for the fact that a 2-hour movie obviously cannot capture the details of the book, the movies have still been very amateurish. Poor Nora - for viewers not familiar with her books, they make her books appear like nothing more than Harlequin romances. We all know differently!
Posted by: Anne | Thursday, February 15, 2007 at 09:02 AM
I have to agree although I did like Carolina Moon (maybe b/c I can't remember the book and I KNOW I have it here somewhere I KEEP ALL of her books) I was SOOO Disappointed in Blue Smoke one of my FAVORITE (ALL OF HERS ARE MY FAVORITE being a MARYLAND GIRL) I am going to stick to READING them instead of watching them I am now glad that another one of my favorite authors has NOT let anyone turn her Series into movies.
Posted by: Becky | Monday, February 19, 2007 at 11:21 PM
I have to agree that Angels Fall and Blue Smoke did not follow the books closely enough. So much of the story lines were changed, especially with Blue Smoke. Like the other viewer, I was yelling at the TV during the movies - "That's NOT what happened in the book! Are you kidding me?" I also didn't like who they cast for the leads in Angels Fall or Blue Smoke. I really liked Montana Sky, but maybe it was because I liked the actors, especially John Corbit and Charlotte Ross. I thought they stuck to the book pretty closely in that one. I think that Nora is such a strong writer that it's very difficult to translate her stories into movies. Her characters have so much depth and her stories are so rich and interesting. The movies left a lot to be desired. Very disappointing.
Posted by: Nancy | Tuesday, February 20, 2007 at 09:39 AM