This is generally not my kind of movie. It's a "weeper," and I avoid weepers. Nevertheless, I tuned to it out of sheer curiosity -- the show (and the book) was technically based in my home town of Three Rivers, Mich.

I couldn't stop watching. I enjoyed the story and I enjoyed the performances.

The nit-picks I have are minor, in the broad sense. Living in Three Rivers, I could easily tell the movie was filmed in California, and I understand that it needed to be filmed there for economic reasons. The grass is wrong and the trees are wrong. I had to snicker at the mountains clearly seen from the "train station" in the movie. We have rolling hills, not mountains (and we do have rivers... not one scene of a river, that I can remember.) The houses around here are generally either Victorian style (on Main Street) or, further out as the town expanded, 60's era Ranch-style. The streets are straight, not curving as on "Sycamore." The church was... I dunno... looked like some kind of smooth material; most churches around here are brick or have siding.

Only a native of Michigan would notice these minor things. Still, the themes are universal. Couldn't they have set the story in California, where it was filmed?

Either Ms. Ladd was going through a chemical peel or the lights were hot, making her make up peel off. Either way, only 10 minutes into the movie I was fixated on her skin wishing they'd taken a good look at the early clips before releasing the movie with such a lovely face destroyed by poor make-up skills.

The frazzled wig they popped on her head in an attempt to age her character was stunningly cheap and artificial looking. In her middle years, they affixed a longer hairpiece to her crown. That would have worked, but it was DARK brown and her real hair was lighter making the contrast obvious.

The premise of this movie...love lost, new love found, old love returning was solid. The acting was excellent all around. The music fit well. The period costuming well done. I never realized until now how really important an experienced make up artist is to a movie.