In “The Valley of Light,” set in 1946 North Carolina, Noah Locke, a 28-year-old World War II veteran who earned the Purple Heart, returns to the States. His parents are dead. His only family is a brother, Travis, whom he visits in prison. Noah has no place to go. And so he ends up an itinerant fisherman.
During his travels, Noah meets another fisherman, the grizzled Hoke Moore (Robert Prosky), who tells him about the nearby Valley of Light, where “some awfully nice people live.” The lake also has the biggest bass that Hoke has ever seen. So Noah treks there.
He befriends a lovely widow, Eleanor Cunningham, whose husband, Boyd, committed suicide after returning home from the war. Eleanor asks Noah, “Why would a man go through a war and come home and kill himself?” She doesn?t realize that Noah has been in anguish from his own war-related nightmares. Predictably, Noah and Eleanor develop a strong attraction.
Noah?s other significant friend is Matthew (Zach Mills), a rabbit-eared 8-year-old who cannot speak. Noah, who usually chooseshis words carefully, jabbers away happily with Matthew, whom he teaches how to fish. Generally in a “Hallmark Hall of Fame” production, when you meet a child who cannot speak, you expect a “Miracle Worker”-style ending. But that doesn?t occur here.
That?s one of the surprises ? along with a shocking tragedy that occurs well into the second hour and shows the characters? true mettle.
This movie is based on a best-selling novel by Terry Kay, who wrote the novel “To Dance with the White Dog,” which was made into an excellent Hallmark Hall of Fame production with Hume Cronyn and Jessica Tandy in 1993.
This time around, Chris Klein (“Election” and the “American Pie” movies) and Gretchen Mol (“The Notorious Bettie Page”) play the leads. They are reason enough to tune in.
As Noah, Klein gives a thoughtful grown-up performance. He has fine chemistry with Mol, who was poised to be the “next big thing” in the late 1990s, but has never received the recognition or roles she deserves. Mol has many poignant moments and gives oddly moving inflections to some of her lines. She is marvelous.
On the downside, be aware that the movie is a fable with a supernatural element, several townspeople are as annoying onscreen as they would be in real life and the inevitable funeral scene goes on too long.
But there?s much more on the plus side ? such as two striking images of Mol standing behind sheets that she?s hanging on a clothesline as the sun sets behind her, a memorable image of Klein digging a grave and some exciting fishing sequences. For two hours, a viewer can enjoy a world where things always seem to turn out all right in the end.
? Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
On the air
» “The Valley of Light”
9 p.m. Sunday
CBS? newest Hallmark Hall of Fame presentation is based on the novel by Terry Kay and tells the story of young World War II veteran Noah Locke (Chris Klein, “American Pie”) as he returns home from the service.
? Zap2It.com
