Civil War Diary

Based on the Newbery Honor book by Irene Hunt, Across Five Aprils, this made-for-TV movie about a young boy's coming of age during the Civil War stars Todd Duffey as Jethro, a nightmare plagued youth who dreams about the hooded man who ran his sister's horse-driven cart off the road, resulting in her death. After some establishing dialogue about the possibility of war, the report of the attack on Fort Sumter comes to this sprawling Southern Illinois family, and Jethro's three brothers rush out to sign up: two with the North, and one with the South. This split represents a major plot point which is quickly milked when Jethro rides to town on an errand and is accosted by a group of "bad" men (we know they're bad because one wears an eye patch and another spits chew tobacco right on the table). Victims of hate-mail (i.e. letters wrapped around airborne rocks), and worse, Jethro's family struggles through the Civil War years, dealing with death and desertion, as well as sappy string music and overbearing Southern accents. Winner of the 1990 Heritage Award (with all the serious Westerns being made each year, there must have been a lot of competition), Civil War Diary is a trite and mawkish melodrama that looks and sounds just like a soap opera wearing Western duds. Not recommended. (R. Pitman)