Review of Keeping the Promise (1997) by Daniel K — 21 Aug 2006

An admirable attempt to make meaningful film about people struggling with real life or death problems, and based on [i]The Sign of the Beaver[/i], well-regarded children's novel. Scene in which the mother (Annette O'Toole) realizes that her child, whom she is cradling in her arms, has just died, is heartwrenching.

However, film suffers from being santized for modern TV audiences. Nobody was that clean in colonial times. With few exceptions, actors fail to convince that they are playing real people instead of performing for the camera in meaningful period piece.