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      The Ponder Heart

      TV-PG 2001 1 hr. 35 min. Comedy Drama List
      Reviews Scandal, bankruptcy and murder charges haunt a wealthy Mississippian (Peter MacNicol) after he falls in love with a backwoods woman (Angela Bettis). Read More Read Less

      Audience Reviews

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      Audience Member So sad I've lost my copy of this little masterpiece of Southern Goth. Fans of Flannary O'Connor will also love Eudora Welty's most approachable work. Miss Bonnie Dee Peacock is especially quotable. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 01/26/23 Full Review Audience Member This was great, one of my favortie Eurdora Welty stories. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 01/24/23 Full Review Audience Member I rented this movie from the library. I'm on a Eudora Welty spree and I like Peter MacNichol ("Ally McBeal"). He was fabulous in this movie- funny and somewhat bumbling, but not in an idiotic way. JoBeth Williams was also in it, but it's still hard for me to get the "run into the light Carol Ann" image out of my head when I watch her in things. The movie was set in rural Mississippi and the Ponders are one of those great rich Southern families with a romantic last name. Daniel Ponder (MacNichol) has his family fortune settled upond him, but his big ol' Ponder Heart may lead him to squander his inheritance out of generosity out of love for his backwoods little wife. The plot was not very sophisticated, but the resolution was more complex- somewhat abrupt and out of the blue (but not awkwardly so, like in "The Forgotten" where you think you've been watching a mystery and you find out it's more like a sci-fi script that "The Twilight Zone" rejected because, ironically, it wasn't believable enough). I would not run out to my local library to pick this up, but if you have a nice rainy fall afternoon- it's a cozy movie to watch (especially if the alternative is a Lifetime movie of the week). Rated 3 out of 5 stars 01/27/23 Full Review Read all reviews Post a rating

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      Critics Reviews

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      John Leonard New York Magazine/Vulture Director Martha Coolidge (Rambling Rose) puts these characters through their paces -- more, in Mississippi, like an amble -- with a knowingness almost as all-wise as Miss Welty's own, although lacking the novelist's wickedness. Feb 3, 2018 Full Review Read all reviews

      Movie Info

      Synopsis Scandal, bankruptcy and murder charges haunt a wealthy Mississippian (Peter MacNicol) after he falls in love with a backwoods woman (Angela Bettis).
      Director
      Martha Coolidge
      Screenwriter
      Gail Gilchriest
      Production Co
      Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
      Rating
      TV-PG
      Genre
      Comedy, Drama
      Original Language
      English