Seeds of Yesterday (2015)
I kinda feel like I have some explaining to do before I really dive into this review. I am a fan of the 1987 version of Flowers in the Attic. Now because of this, when Lifetime remade it in 2014, I figured I'd give it a shot. I was not a very big fan. It could be that I was bias because I didn't feel it lived up to the original (although remakes rarely do). And there may be claims that the Lifetime version stayed more true to the books. I've never read the books so I can't comment on that, but if I'm watching a movie, it's to see the movie, not because of the book. I don't care which movie follows it better, I care which one is a better movie. Now what I was unaware of as far as the books go is that there were 3 more in the series. And I was even more unaware that Lifetime made a movie out of all of them. So when I received Seeds of Yesterday I was a little confused how I was supposed to review part 4 of a saga when I didn't even know parts 2 and 3 existed. After failing to get my hands on those aforementioned movies, I had to resort to the next best thing; reading their plots and Wikipedia. Now they were confusing as all hell but it gave me just enough insight to have somewhat of a clue what was going on when I sat down to watch Seeds of Yesterday.
Synopsis:
The saga of the tormented Dollangangar comes to an end in SEEDS OF YESTERDAY, based on the fourth and final book in the V.C. Andrews series of novels that began with Flowers in the Attic. In SEEDS OF YESTERDAY, The Dollangangars continue to coexist miserably as their deeply troubled relationships, dark secrets, and tragedies come to a head in a way that will haunt the family and its progeny forever.
Reading the summaries helped me piece together the gap between the first and the fourth movies and apparently it was quite a gap. Cathy and Christopher, the oldest siblings in Flowers are now parents. Technically, Cathy is the only parent as Christopher isn't the legitimate father to any of the kids. Cathy's oldest son Jory was conceived with a ballet dancer that she was in love with. Her second son Bart was conceived with her step-father, whom she only slept with to get back at her mother Corinne. And the youngest child, Cindy, was adopted although I'm not sure from who. Corinne was the heir of the Foxworth estate and when she died in the 3rd movie, she left the whole thing to Bart. I'm not sure why just Bart because Jory is also her grandson but that is neither here nor there. Bart had the manor rebuilt (it was burnt down in a previous movie), and now lives there full time. He is a religious freak and is basically turning into Malcolm (the grandfather who was dying in Flowers).
The movie actually wasn't to bad. I found the end to be a bit weak. With all the drama that went on in the family throughout 4 movies, it was one event in the final 10 minutes of the movie that put all the craziness to a sudden halt and the family went back to being normal. As for the rest of the movie however, it seemed to flow right along with the direction I'm assuming the rest of the series went. The whole cast did a great job. Every character was completely believable. Some characters were meant to be loved, some hated, and some pitied. And all the actors managed to pull the desired reaction from the viewer.
The movie was kind a bit strange, and judging by the summaries I read on the rest of them, so was the whole saga. If they truly did follow the books, than V.C. Andrews is one deranged writer. That being said, the movie was good enough and intriguing enough to have me considering continuing my attempt to find the other other movies and to actually watch the whole series. Will I actually go through with this, who knows. Now this movie was good so if you come across it, it is definitely worth checking it out. If you do, make sure you have either seen the previous movies or read what happens in them. If not, you will be completely lost.
reviewed by Bobby
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