All in all, I was pretty pleased with this adaptation of the six Samantha books. It was not 100% true to the details of the story, but seemed to capture the spirit. The actors were all decent, if a little dramatic, but they were certainly suited to the parts. Uncle Gard and Cornelia, in particular, were exactly how I'd pictured them.
There were a few anachronisms that made the movie seem less well researched than the books -- for example, two of the characters return from Europe in 1904 excited about the "brand new" Impressionist art movement and a fellow called Monet who had some water lilies. That's nice and all, but a couple of decades too late. These things didn't detract from the story, though; I wasn't watching it for historical accuracy, I watched too see if they could effectively capture the magic and personality of the books, and in that, they succeeded. It's a lovely story and will be enjoyed by girls of Samantha's age and readers of the books.
There were a few anachronisms that made the movie seem less well researched than the books -- for example, two of the characters return from Europe in 1904 excited about the "brand new" Impressionist art movement and a fellow called Monet who had some water lilies. That's nice and all, but a couple of decades too late. These things didn't detract from the story, though; I wasn't watching it for historical accuracy, I watched too see if they could effectively capture the magic and personality of the books, and in that, they succeeded. It's a lovely story and will be enjoyed by girls of Samantha's age and readers of the books.