The fatal flaw of "Nora Roberts' Carnal Innocence" was in the screenplay that included far too many characters. The result was a long parade a new faces with all of the roles underdeveloped.

The actors were stuck with trying invest cameos with some substance, and the result was often caricatures. For example, there are four new male characters whom we meet in a bar in the middle of the film. The men decide that they are going to beat or even kill a black laborer named Toby March. The abhorrent scene that follows almost appears like the parody of a lynching.

The main romantic relationship of Caroline Waverly and Tucker Longstreet was so far-fetched that the love connection was never made credible. Caroline was a virtuoso violinist who had played Carnegie Hall. Tucker was a lady's man with no understanding or appreciation of Bach's concerto "Largo ma non tanto." It was hardly believable that Caroline would ever give the time of day to the rube of Sweetwater, let alone put her career on hold for a fling.

With so many characters and plot strands, there was never a clear set of suspects for the serial murders. At some point, the audience needs to "care" about the characters and situations. But this Gothic romance set in the Deep South failed to elicit any empathy and never produced some much needed Southern Comfort.