The Pilot's Wife

source: The Pilot's Wife

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If you're a big fan of C Lahti - see this - her face is wonderful, catching myriad emotions with depth & grace. The rest of it is lame - low plot, leads that die, ideas not followed through, unsatisfying characters going half-way, no pay off. Campbell Scott, while easy on the eyes resorts to two tones - one flat & the other flatter. Supporting cast has little to work with in the way of story, development or location. There is nothing redeeming about any of the film except for Lahti's acting. You'd be better off browsing in the romance section of the used book store.

A clever plot with heart rending twists but I could could not watch beyond the appalling portrayal of my beloved London. I came home today and found my wife watching it and I just knew it was that movie I saw a couple of years ago that had the very worst "American London". Being Anglo-Irish, I was almost as saddened by the "American Ireland". Perhaps it is because I am offended by so many dreadful Hollywood mistakes in movies set outside the USA but this was just the last straw: the characters are all so obviously from the end of the twentieth century so why are the cars in London from the fifties? This is the one with, as someone mentioned earlier, only one taxi in The Smoke (I remember the middle of the last century when we called it that) and I am sure this is the movie with one London copper who walks through two scenes three times (and his uniform is decades out of date). The pub is from a time in my childhood and the whole effect made me laugh and scream in turns. I could not seriously take in the second half of the film because all realism was lost. I am sure it was an excellent novel, shame about the movie production: the author should sue the director. I heard recently that the most numerous "foreigners" in London (after the Irish) are Americans, next time someone wants to include England in a movie: call one of your friends and ask them to send some photos. ps - Don't even start me on the accents!!!!!

Interesting story of a plane crash with terrorist foundation. Unfortunately, too much else is put into the script. John Heard portrays the airline pilot who apparently led quite a secret life. Christine Lahti does quite well as the wife who finds out plenty when her husband and 104 others are killed in a plane crash. Lahti sounds like a serious Carol Burnett when she speaks. What was the point of Heard never revealing that his mother was still living. Why did he say that she died when he was 9? With the government investigating the tragedy, is this really the time for the teenage daughter to admit to Lahti that last year, at age 14, she had intercourse. Come on. A scene before, she is hysterical with grief over her father's death. The interesting part of the story is merely glossed over. I am talking about Heard's involvement with the IRA in Northern Ireland. His newly discovered second wife and family is a shocker adequately dealt with. No wonder Lahti throws away her wedding ring at the spot where the plane went down. Anyone would do the same thing.

This was a very well-done film...didn't read the novel, but the plot was surprising. I was disappointed in not being able to research on the IMDB site the filming locations...don't mean in Britain and Ireland (I lived in England in the early 50s)...but the shots of the home. I am assuming that the pilot's home in the U.S. was in a seaside community north of Boston. But there is very little to research in IMDB for this film. The ending was equally unexpected. I guess when the wife learned that the husband was unaware of the bomb that she was then able to forgive him?? To take her daughter to meet his mother would be something she wouldn't feel motivated to do if she had completely lost trust in him. It was very entertaining and well-done and I enjoyed it thoroughly.

Christine Lahti turns in her usual excellent performance in this above average TV-movie based on the bestselling novel. It helps that author Anita Shreve co-writes the screenplay. Campbell Scott and Alison Pill turn in good supporting performances. Filming in London and along the Irish coast provides much-needed atmosphere, evoking much of the book's intrigue. All in all, this was treat for a lover of the book. Rarely does what's on the screen match the mental pictures you gain from the reading. I have thought about this book a great deal since Sept. 11, 2001. And the movie only adds to its reputation as a serious meditation on cause and effect.

The book on which this film is based was excellent. Unfortunately, this movie is a near disaster. Campbell Scott may have given one of the most insipid, laconic and annoying performances in the history of filmdom. The supporting cast is as mediocre as the primary actors, and despite a story whose essence is a major tragedy, followed by a family's startling, saddening and excruciating discovery concerning the late husband/father -- this presentation can't dredge-up an iota's sympathy for anyone on-film. The script, filming technique, and overall presentation are largely to blame. However, the real problem is that -- all added together -- Cristine Lahti, Campbell Scott, Alison Pill and John Heard do not possess as much charisma as, say, Paul Newman's or Meryl Streep's big toe. Hell, they don't have as much as Pewee Herman's "little toe." ***** "Possible "spoiler*****... if it's possible to "spoil" this film. As the story proceeds, it is impossible to feel a lot of sympathy for Christine as the revelations occur showing her marriage to the late pilot to have been less idyllic than she portrayed initially, as flashbacks occur. The English (or Scottish?) 2nd spouse in England is no more sympathetic, charismatic or appealing than the other characters. The one aspect I did find slightly amusing, with regard to Campbell Scott's performance and character, was wondering if at some point, during his scenes, he might leave abruptly, and return to the pod to join the rest of the aliens.

I quite liked this film, apart from the later UK 'setting' and how the story skirted close to glorifying the IRA. Christine Lahti portrayed a strong character whose life fell apart not once, but about three times, whilst discovering the truth about the death - and life - of her pilot husband. And Glasgow-born Kirsty Mitchell was strangely compelling as Muire ('M-yoo-ire', as Lahti's character stumbled with). I felt like the film should have ended a scene or two before it actually did, and I don't know what Lahti's character established by visiting Ireland, but the rest of the story kept me hooked. I also admired how an obvious scene was avoided, in the hotel room between Kathryn and the union rep (is that what he was? Did he turn out to be some kind of government agent in the end? Not sure). The contrast between the wife's broken memories of her husband - shining his shoes, waving goodbye in full uniform, playing happily with the daughter - and the uncovered truth was dramatic and well filmed. The London and Ireland 'locations' (in Halifax, Nova Scotia) were tired and the stuff of American mythology - did somebody in the pub actually say 'Guv'nor'? - but that was the only real failing. I'll definitely read Anita Shreve's novel, to compare the two versions. The comments on airport security and terrorism did not escape deeper consideration either, after last year's tragic events.

Although the story itself was very good, the director's choice of location was horrible. To film a story about a plane crash in Nova Scotia was in bad taste. The aftermath of Swiss Air is still in the thoughts of many Nova Scotians, not to mention the families of the victims. To film at the Lord Nelson Hotel where many of the family members were housed and at Peggy's Cove the actual crash site just overshadowed the story. It was a good story, the acting was wonderful, but a different location would have been better.