A WALTON THANKSGIVING REUNION (1993) *1/2 Well, ok, here's one for those who insist that "The Waltons" was a terrible show, halfwit actors struggling through plots that would have been better if nonexistent. Easily half the time is spent taking roll, checking in with each actor to see where they are and what they are doing. It turns out (surprise!) that none of them are doing anything interesting, and even worse hardly any of them are anywhere near Walton Mountain. Oh nooooo! It becomes very apparent that if none of the children were competent actors in their youth, their skills have none the less eroded with time. It pains me to think of the extent to which even the most amateur acting students must take the most perverse glee every time Judy Norton-Taylor gets anywhere near the screen, and the suspense only builds wildly when she appears to be opening her mouth. Things are somehow saved, to the extent that they can be, by the interjection of the assassination of John F. Kennedy. The pain felt by the common people lingers to this day, and there is something touching in seeing even the way that it affects these fictitious beings. The wound of collective loss is touched. The footage of JFK and Jackie and JFK Junior and Caroline is moving, in any context including this one. That is more a saving grace of a people-that we move on even when we can't forget-than this movie. As even my beloved wife, who adores the Waltons one and all, turned to me halfway through and helpfully suggested, "It's not very good."
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