Audio Books Online

Reviews

REVIEW OF VIDEO "BACK WHEN WE WERE GROWNUPS" -- VIDEO IN GOOD SHAPE. RECEIVED IMMEDIATELY. MY ONLY SUGGESTION WOULD BE TO REWIND VIDEOS BEFORE SENDING.

Reviews

Characters are well developed. Interesting personalities and relationships within this family. Focus is on reconciling with the past and solidifying family unity in the present, accepting where life has taken you. A Hallmark presentation I would recommend to teens and adults.

This Hallmark adaptation of the book by the same name by one of my favorite authors, Anne Tyler, is a sheer joy. With a cast that includes Blythe Danner, Peter Fonda, and Faye Dunaway, along with the Hallmark 'signature' of excellent scripts, direction and cinematography, how can one go wrong? One can't, and this film is full of sparkle and fun, along with those characteristic 'Hallmark moments' when your heart catches in your throat. It's all here. For those not familiar with Anne Tyler's novel, here is a brief summary of the story captured in this film, taken from the Hallmark Channel listings: "Tagline: A 53-year-old widowed grandmother, matriarch, caretaker of an extended family embarks on a search for herself, for a life she feared was long gone, and for a new awareness she never imagined possible. Rebecca Davitch, a 53-year-old widowed grandmother, matriarch, caretaker of an extended family, and proprietress of the family business, is suddenly questioning the choices she made in life that brought her to where she is today. So begins Rebecca's journey to rediscover her past, her old loves, and abandoned dreams in this beguiling adaptation of Anne Tyler's novel." ______________ The DVD is hard to find and it's wonderful that it's available here on Amazon. You'll love it. Warmly recommended.

Back When We Were Grownups is a delightful film. I watched it when it was presented as a Hallmark movie and it stayed in my mind for weeks after I viewed it. It's the story of Rebecca Davitch (Blythe Danner) who at the age of 53 finds herself looking at her life and wondering how she became the person that she turned into. As a young woman, still in college, she was engaged to a Will Allenby (Peter Fonda), a serious academic and they had a plan for their future. While at a reception, she met Joe Davitch, a divorced man, several years her senior. Rebecca was flattered and very much infatuated by the attention from Joe, and she married him without much consideration, except that she seemed to love him. She immediately became a stepmother to three little girls and manager of a home based business. She also inherited her husband's Uncle Poppy (Jack Palance) who had been living with the Davitch family since his wife died. Within a few years, Rebecca and Joe had their own child, another daughter. To further add to the confusion, Rebecca also has to deal with her husband's former wife who is played by Faye Dunaway Although, amusing in many ways, I felt this story had a real feeling about the various relationships and jealousies that can crop up in any family. It also shows how one person often takes on the responsibility of keeping a family together. Like many avid readers, I find that movies based on books, are rarely as good as the books. However, in this case, I enjoyed the film more than the book. I also thought that Blythe Danner did an excellent job in the major role of Rebecca.

Faye Dunaway,Blythe Danner Rules in this great movie of a DVD with an all-star cast.It's a must see!!!!!!!!!!

Reviews

Characters are well developed. Interesting personalities and relationships within this family. Focus is on reconciling with the past and solidifying family unity in the present, accepting where life has taken you. A Hallmark presentation I would recommend to teens and adults.

This Hallmark adaptation of the book by the same name by one of my favorite authors, Anne Tyler, is a sheer joy. With a cast that includes Blythe Danner, Peter Fonda, and Faye Dunaway, along with the Hallmark 'signature' of excellent scripts, direction and cinematography, how can one go wrong? One can't, and this film is full of sparkle and fun, along with those characteristic 'Hallmark moments' when your heart catches in your throat. It's all here. For those not familiar with Anne Tyler's novel, here is a brief summary of the story captured in this film, taken from the Hallmark Channel listings: "Tagline: A 53-year-old widowed grandmother, matriarch, caretaker of an extended family embarks on a search for herself, for a life she feared was long gone, and for a new awareness she never imagined possible. Rebecca Davitch, a 53-year-old widowed grandmother, matriarch, caretaker of an extended family, and proprietress of the family business, is suddenly questioning the choices she made in life that brought her to where she is today. So begins Rebecca's journey to rediscover her past, her old loves, and abandoned dreams in this beguiling adaptation of Anne Tyler's novel." ______________ The DVD is hard to find and it's wonderful that it's available here on Amazon. You'll love it. Warmly recommended.

Back When We Were Grownups is a delightful film. I watched it when it was presented as a Hallmark movie and it stayed in my mind for weeks after I viewed it. It's the story of Rebecca Davitch (Blythe Danner) who at the age of 53 finds herself looking at her life and wondering how she became the person that she turned into. As a young woman, still in college, she was engaged to a Will Allenby (Peter Fonda), a serious academic and they had a plan for their future. While at a reception, she met Joe Davitch, a divorced man, several years her senior. Rebecca was flattered and very much infatuated by the attention from Joe, and she married him without much consideration, except that she seemed to love him. She immediately became a stepmother to three little girls and manager of a home based business. She also inherited her husband's Uncle Poppy (Jack Palance) who had been living with the Davitch family since his wife died. Within a few years, Rebecca and Joe had their own child, another daughter. To further add to the confusion, Rebecca also has to deal with her husband's former wife who is played by Faye Dunaway Although, amusing in many ways, I felt this story had a real feeling about the various relationships and jealousies that can crop up in any family. It also shows how one person often takes on the responsibility of keeping a family together. Like many avid readers, I find that movies based on books, are rarely as good as the books. However, in this case, I enjoyed the film more than the book. I also thought that Blythe Danner did an excellent job in the major role of Rebecca.

Faye Dunaway,Blythe Danner Rules in this great movie of a DVD with an all-star cast.It's a must see!!!!!!!!!!

Reviews

Rebecca, known as Beck to the Davitch clan, made a sudden decision back in her college days to breakup with her studious boyfriend, Will Allenby, for a whirlwind courtship with the older Joe Davitch, an exciting grownup whose wife had left him with three small daughters. However Joe died six years into their marriage, leaving her with three stepdaughters and one of her own, all in a house constantly in need of repair. Plus, Rebecca's ninety-nine year old uncle-in-law, who lives on the top floor, is obsessed with his upcoming 100th birthday party and Rebecca's and Joe's daughter is just about to give birth to her third child from her third marriage. Now fifty-four years old, Rebecca looks back over her life with questions and self-doubts. What would her life have been like if she'd married Will? Her reflections become sort of a midlife meditation, an obsession and her family doesn't even seem to notice. Casting her mind back to her college days, she decides to look up Will. However, when she meets him, she finds that he has turned into a prematurely old fussbudget without any social graces whatsoever. What comes next, I can't tell here. Howeverm I will say that you will enjoy going where Anne Tyler will take you in this wonderful story. She is a master storyteller who writes with a style and grace that is so beautiful it almost makes you want to cry.

Tyler has written a beautiful novel about a woman who regrets her choice in life, and in searching out her past in order to change it, finds out why she made the choice she did in the first place. This is a lovely novel about families, with the wonderful annoyance and joy each person adds to the mix. The book prompts its readers to some positive introspection on life choices and families. Definitely a great summer read.

"Back When We Were Grown Ups" is my first Anne Tyler book. I received it as a gift from my sister and I immediately hated the cover. However, I opened up the book and was drawn into the character of Rebecca almost immediately. She is such a well-crafted creation. She is in her mid fifties, a widow for the past 30 years and she feels at odds against who she was long ago, and who she has become. She feels like a shadow of her former self. She feels unimportant, like a cornerstone in the family- yet a stone nonetheless. In the beginning, the names of the children were a little off-putting (Jeep, Min Foo, Patch, Troy, NoNo, Biddy, etc) but by the end of the story, I felt like I knew them and loved them anyway. Biddy is an emotional wreck of a daughter, but when needed she reacts the way that is expected. Patch is just a fight waiting to happen, but she has such passion. NoNo is meek and quiet, but once put upon, she turns into a blindly foolish tyrant. Min Foo is a free spirit, with three children by three different men and different personalities for each former husband. But, in the end, all four daughters are oblivious to the quesion on Rebecca's forehead. They are so caught up in their own world's, so used to Rebecca "being there", that when she starts to question her existence, they don't even notice. Rebecca contacts her old boyfriend from high school, Will, who meant so much to her back then, but whom she left in order to run away with a new guy nearly 13 years her senior, who already had 3 children. She was with Will (yet on a schedule of not being engaged) for years, but when she met her husband, Joe, she left Will and married Joe (and his boisterous family) within a few months. Now, that Joe is deceased since she was 26, she phones Will in a pit of nervousness and they meet again. Did she make the right decision to leave Will for Joe in such a rush? Do they have a chance of reconciling now that Joe is gone? And what of this loud, hot tempered, yet loving family that she has been adopted into? Poppy (her late husband's elderly uncle) is endearing. The warmth that she shows when communicating with him, even though he has a hard time remembering anything and tends to repeat himself a lot, is so sweet. What stopped me from giving this five stars? Rebecca's relationship with Joe's junior brother, Zeb. I was frustrated. I wanted to read more about those two. Even though she is in her 50s, Rebecca finds that she still has much to learn. As we all do. "Back When..." was a wonderful book. It was almost lyrical. It has it's funny moments, it's saddening moments, and I breezed through it in only a few days (I've been in a reading slump for the past few months and this book dragged me out) It is lovely. My sister has not yet read this one, and I plan on sending it back to her so that she can see what she mistakenly gave away! Great novel.

The book was well written but the story was a little underwhelming. The characters were interesting, but not very deep (except for the main character, who was very well portrayed). I must reveal that I am male, and the story may have been better appreciated and targeted to the female audience.

If you've ever been the glue to hold a body of people together, or been an invisible link amongst people - especially a family - this poignant, humorous read leaves - like most of life - many questions unanswered. Rebecca, the main character, spends much of the book living and contemplating her "chosen" life versus what might have been had she continued on her original path as a college student whose destiny is to marry her long-time sweetheart. But the story is frustratingly developed around her choice, at 20 years old, of what man to marry. Rebecca is an incredibly intelligent, insightful woman. Wouldn't it be fun to watch her close down "Open Arms" or let her kids run it, and truly create a new life for herself? She can continue her practice of truly saying what is true and contribute to society beyond this needy and often ungrateful family. Rebecca never becomes a martyr in this book, but she also never becomes truly authentic. I love Ann Tyler's writing like no other and this book is no exception to her high quality writing style. She places unique characters in believable yet hilarious situations. I rarely laugh out loud when reading a book; Tyler is an exception. I loved the main character enough to want her to have another chance!

Reviews

This review refers to the Unabridged Audio Edition of "Back When We Were Grownups" by Anne Tyler... Blair Brown's reading of "Back When We Were Grownups" is a most enjoyable one. She seems to find in each character, just the right inflections, accents, and character traits to bring them alive. From the 100 year old "Poppy" to the youngest child, Brown finds the subtleties that make each one different, and she does it without going over the top. She brings the quiet humor of the story right to the listener, and gives you the feeling you're with an old friend. Rebecca Davitch is a 53 year old woman, who finds herself, in life, at a place she never expected. She simply thinks she is the wrong person. What happened to her life? One minute she was an aspiring history major in college, and the next she was a middle aged woman, who, widowed early in her marriage, has raised, on her own, 4 daughters, 3 of them from her husband's previous marriage. Taking over the Davitch family business of hosting parties in their large, but always in need of repair home, also became part of her exsistence. She has been and seems will always be, the glue that holds this growing family together. Always there to smooth out the wrinkles and motivate the troops. But what of Rebecca's wants and needs? Who will ever see to them? Is her college boyfriend, who she left for her husband, the answer to her quest for the real Rebecca, or is her life just as it should be? Anne Tyler's "Back When We Were Grownups" is a wonderful take on midlife and family life. Rebecca's thoughts and feelings seem so real, almost anyone who's been there can identify with this woman. You may have even thought some of the same thoughts as Rebecca. The family and friends who surround her could be any family, anywhere, including all the everday challenges that life presents. The story is humorous, touching and at times poignant. It reminded me a bit of Doris Day's song, "Que Sera, Sera" It is a tale of finding peace with who you are, and it is one that although starts out a little slow, will have you falling in love with the characters and wishing there was more by the end. A wonderful life story, a fabulous reading, and one that I am sure I will enjoy many times in the future. Enjoy the read....Laurie