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Based on the novel by John Grisham. Until that September in 1952, Luke Chandler had never kept a secret or told a single lie. But in that long, hot summer when 10-year-old Luke Chandler comes of age, two groups of migrant workers - and two very dangerous men - come through the Arkansas Delta to work the Chandler cotton farm. And suddenly mysteries flood Luke's world. A murder leaves the town seething in gossip and suspicion. A beautiful young woman catches Luke's eye. A herless baby is born, and someone has be furtively painting the bare clapboards of the Chandler farmhouse, slowly, painstakingly bathing the run-down structure in gleaming white. As young Luke watches the world around him, he shelters secrets that could shatter lives - and change his family forever. A memorable adaptation of John Grisham's life-affirming story, A Painted House draws on childhood memories and "local lore" from his Arkansas roots. .com ---- Even by the high standards of the Hallmark Hall of Fame, A Painted House is well above average. John Grisham's well-received "lawyer-free" novel ( /exec/obidos/ASIN/044023722X/%24%7B0%7D ) was respectfully adapted by Patrick Sheane Duncan (Mr. Holland's Opus), and director Alfonso Arau (Like Water for Chocolate, A Walk in the Clouds) brings just the right touch of toughness and delicate nostalgia to Grisham's semi-autobiographical remembrance of boyhood in rural Arkansas, circa 1952. Grisham's alter ego is 10-year-old Luke Chandler (well played by Logan Lerman), and when tempers flare into violence between the Mexican migrant workers and itinerant "hill people" hired to harvest cotton on his grandher's farm, Luke--who has witnessed a murder--must decide whether to expose the killer or keep the crime a secret. Filled with warm grace notes and a perfect cast including leather-faced Scott Glenn and Melinda Dillon (as Luke's grandparents), A Painted House juggles multiple crises (including devastating rainstorms) with strong family values, capturing the humor and hardship of farming life at a crossroads of fading tradition and inevitable change. Combining elements of To Kill a Mockingbird and Places in the Heart, this is a purebred Hallmark production in every respect, earning a badge of pride for everyone involved in its making. --Jeff Shannon