The Patron Saint of Liars (1998 TV Movie) User Reviews

I didn't really get this movie

[KAnnD86 · 5/10 · 8 March 2006]

**this review may contain a minor spoiler that is not important to the plot of the movie**

I didn't really get this movie. I couldn't understand the main character and what made her do the things she did. It was an interesting story and I think I was enjoying it as I was watching it, but thinking about it, it didn't really make any sense to me. Why did she run away in the first place? I thought eventually we'd get some sort of backstory like her husband abused her or her father abandoned her or something, you know? But all we find out is that her father died when she was very young. I think they could have taken this whole movie to another level by revealing what made her tick. Why did she keep everybody at a distance? I felt like we should have been able to get inside her head and we were never let in. I also wanted to know the significance of the healing spring. I thought they could have taken that metaphor further. I would have enjoyed the movie more if that were the case.

An unlikable character in a predictable story

[singtress · 4/10 · 4 November 2003]

The most I can say about this movie -- without risking a spoiler -- is that I feel it is centered around an unlikable character who treats pretty much everyone like doo-doo. She is selfish, deceptive, and evasive -- for no real reason.

Not a great chick flick, in my opinion.

It is a weak movie, but it is based on a great book.

[quixotictext · 4/10 · 7 March 2006]

It is a weak movie, but it is based on a great book. The Patron Saint of Liars is a sad story of a woman unhappy with who she is. It details how she runs from her life then she puts herself into another life. She is never quite happy with her second life either. The story is sad, but interesting. You relate to her and feel sorry for her at the same time. The movie is much slower than the book, and not as deep. The book takes you in more and allows you to relate more to the characters and their feelings. Dana Delany is kind of bland in the lead role. It does have a small early role for Maggie Gyllenhal.It is worth a watch, but definitely worth reading.

GREAT Supporting Roles, Unsympathetic Lead- SPOILERZ

[Cyrn · 3/10 · 20 February 2005]

SPOILERS BELOW

+ + Rose leaves her husband with no real explanation ever offered- and relocates to Kentucky! She meets the wonderfully sympathetic Sister Evangeline and the crotchety heart-of-gold spinster landowner along with some of the other pregnant women. The audience is geered to feel empathy for these mothers who are forced to relinquish custody of their babies- yet despite a few initial protests, Rose does nothing to challenge the dictatorial Mother Superior or change any of her dictums even after she herself becomes a mother! Oh, and for reasons never explained, she isolates herself from her daughter Cecilia ASAP as well her her bigamously wed 2nd husband Son. Cecilia grows into a remarkably well-adjusted teen without any evident boyfriends who cherishes her de facto mothers (Sister Evangeline and the late spinster landowner who left the house) and her de facto father Son but is understandably puzzled and bitter towards her own mother's cold behaviour. Beyond cooking together for the unwed mothers and teaching her how to drive, Rose sees to it they have as little interaction as possible and openly resents any queries into her past. Rose actually berates Cecilia for driving the seriously injured Son to the hospital when there was no other reliable means to safely reach the place as though Cecilia had taken a joyride! Eventually Rose's first husband finds the family shortly after Rose has taken off with only the tersest explanation but he seems perfectly willing to leave things be. At the end, after someone smashes her car back window, Rose has an epiphany and drives back home and while a long-dry spring gushes to life, Rose gushes about how she's now Cecilia's 'REAL mother!' while hugging her daughter and bigamous husband. Contrary to another reviewer, I don't think Cecilia had miraculously become totally accepting of Rose at that instant but just seemed willing to see if this New Rose was going to change! Usually Lifetime movies try to provide compelling motivations for the despicable behaviours of the leading characters but this one didn't even slightly bother! While Rose wasn't overtly cruel or sadistic, it's hard to remember a less sympathetic female character- and she owed everyone in her life major penance! I'd have preferred it if the movie had been focused on Sister Evangeline, the spinster or Son instead of Rose. Sada Thompson and Ellen Burstyn shined in their parts but even the great Dana Delaney couldn't make Rose believable or likable!

Slow moving, Far fetched........

[coldnutz · 1/10 · 10 May 2002]

Recently this movie was on Lifetime. It is about a woman who leaves her husband for no reason when she becomes pregnant. She goes into hiding to give up her child at a convent. The story gives no apparent reason for her running away until the very ending, which makes no sense. She then marries again, while still married to her first husband, to the grounds keeper, Clancy Brown. She decides to keep her baby and lives in a separate home from her husband and child at the convent. Years go by of the couple living apart and the child grows up thinking her mother doesn't love and care for her. Then after a mail incident, her first husband finds her and comes looking for his wife, which of course he is still in love with. Then the story finally unwinds and we find out why this woman runs from her family, which of course is very weak, and leaves the viewer full of questions that are never answered. I watched this whole story to find out the reasoning of a religious event that happens in the first 5 minutes of the movie with a sick child becoming well after a spring of water appears out of the ground, at the very end of the movie the spring appears again, when the lady who runs stops running, I don't see how the 2 relate to the story line that seemed to be full of holes, and how a woman can leave her child and have that child have peace suddenly at the end of the movie is a bit to far fetched for me! I would not waste my time with this movie. One of the worst I have seen.

Not worth your time *contains spoiler*

[indianahoosier-1 · 3/10 · 7 November 2010]

You see the names Dana Delany, Sada Thompson, Ellen Burstyn... and you think, "Wow, this has got to be a great movie." Unfortunately, the best part of the movie was the opening credits and it goes downhill from there. I don't know if something was lost in translation from the book to the screen, but this movie lacked emotion. I didn't really care for Dana Delany's character, Rose. In fact, I came to despise her. It almost seems as if the producers of this film looked at every Lifetime movie over the last 10 years, grabbed scenes off the cutting-room floor, spliced them together and came up with this travesty. The ending was horrible... what happened? Did Rose, Son and Cecilia live happily ever after? Did the first husband come back? Did the daughter, Cecilia, ever forgive her mother or get to know her real father? Did Sister Evangeline (Sada Thompson) ever get out of that dang kitchen? And what was the deal with the healing spring? There were a lot of unanswered questions. My advice - skip this movie and go hug your family.

Some great performances here

[dapplegrey13 · 7/10 · 18 August 2011]

This film isn't as useless as many of the reviewers here are writing, in my opinion. I enjoyed it, and I especially fell in love with Clancy Brown's character. He was patient, understanding, loyal, and loving.... he was SO good and believable in this role, it's the one I think of him in the most often now. I believe Clancy is more like this character than any of the others he's played.

No, they didn't explain the lead character's issues or motivations very well, but aren't many people intriguing and inexplicable in some (or many) ways? I think you can enjoy this film if you also pay special attention to the stories and characters around her. Ellen Burstyn is always a first-class actor. All of the supporting cast and characters are rich, interesting, and easy to understand. I enjoyed the movie and I'll watch it again, I'm sure, when I have an opportunity.

Clancy Brown was WONDERFUL. I wanted to marry him myself!

It is Unanimous

[rsternesq · 1/10 · 16 November 2008]

Another voice added to the comment choir. This is a pretty awful movie that allows one to wander the house, do laundry, read a book (even the book upon which the movie is based) and still be bored with it (the movie that is). Add my vote to those who hated the lead character. She isn't presented as a patron saint but more of an excellent liar and fairly worthless character. People like Rose may have a few screws loose or lost but whatever the reason for her behavior, I can't work up the empathy to care. Gist of review: Sticking with this movie is like watching the wrong shade of paint dry on your walls so you can finally repaint with a better color. Fortunately, viewers can avoid the wait by just changing the channel.

At last! A Sada Thompson movie on video

[pauly-18 · 7/10 · 2 May 2005]

Ann Patchett's book is much better but as movie adaptations go this is fine. It is worth watching just to see the great Sada Thompson as Sister Evangeline. That doesn't mean the other actors aren't fine it is just that Sada stands out. People may wonder why Dana Delaney sets off for Kentucky. I read the book so long ago I don't know if this was gone into. There is also fine work from Clancy Brown who plays Mr. Niceguy. A far cry from the demonic minister he played on two seasons of HBO'S CARNIVALE. The featured players are good too. Filmed on location in North Carolina which probably comes close to Kentucky where the story takes place. Read the book and watch the movie and see why Sada Thompson is one of America's finest actresses.

BORING.....waiting for the big reveal....NOTHING !

[lyninbyron · 2/10 · 14 January 2022]

Two hours of my life, thrown away!

The story of a coward who broke hearts! Nothing to learn from this drivel, no moral of the story, just two hours of blahhh.

Confused....

[redhead_9au-1 · 19 September 2011]

Confused.....purchased this film as a Dana Delany fan and by the end I had no idea why or what was motivating this film?! I was enjoying the story and characters until I realized there was no explanation for this woman's actions or development to the back story of any of the characters!

Frustrating to the point of purchasing the book, to try and gain some clarity of the characters motivations.

Delany was enjoyable however her character was unlikeable and the film left me needing a part 2...no real conclusion or explanation :/

I recommend maybe reading the novel first....I think coming into it some knowledge of a back story and character development will make it a bit more enjoyable!

A beautiful story about love, forgiveness and redemption

[kateann1027 · 8/10 · 9 July 2021]

A wonderful heartfelt movie with great performances and an American Heartland Story through and through. I really enjoyed this story of forgiveness, love and redemption.

A Decent, Chick-Flick Film from Stephen Gyllenhaal

[thevoid99 · 6/10 · 10 September 2003]

Well, it's a typical, melodramatic chick-flick with overdone performances, the film does have a good cast with Dana Delany, Marisa Ribisi, Ellen Burstyn, and Clancy Brown. Stephen Gyllenhaal's direction isn't bad since he does offer some excellent scenery and poignant moments in the film.

Fans of Maggie though will see her in the 2nd half of the film as a friend of Delany's daughter for about 5-7 minutes in a standout performance as a pregnant teen with multiple ear piercings and bad light blonde dye hair. It's a good film about a woman questioning her Catholic faith while living in a Catholic retreat home for pregnant women while looking for love and understanding.

Why did they change the ending of the book?

[rockorenee · 5/10 · 22 June 2021]

After reading the Patron Saint of Liars, I could not wait to watch the movie. They ruined it by trying to make a happy ending. The whole point of the book was to show us how some people just can never face life. The reason I loved the book was because for days you thought about Rose, what made her run away from her first life, what made her run away from her second life. You wondered what ever happened to her. This is the problem with Hollywood and why I like Foreign films better. They show life as it really is. Not a neatly tied up ending with, gag me, the healing spring suddenly sprouting forth again, everyone hugging and loving one another again. The book was so much better than the film.

A Modern Epic

[johnginesi-72278 · 10/10 · 14 January 2022]

I completely enjoyed this movie, great storyline it had overtones of Flowers In The Attic and Heaven, (VC Andrews), better than most modern movies. It draws you into the film as you see all the struggles of this poor woman who tries to find herself through life, it all came together in a happy ending plus the magical water fountain returned to it's origin. A beautiful story to watch if you are feeling low in spirit. Acting was great and the film has a lot of heart .