Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #24052 in DVD
• Released on: 2002-09-24
• Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 102 minutes

From the Back Cover
Angela Lansbury, Tony Award-winning star of stage and screen, gives a touching performance as a woman who gets a second chance at life and love in this remarkable adaptation of Rosamunde Pilcher's best-selling novel. After a mild heart attack at 63, Penelope Keeling is not ready to be an invalid yet...despite her children's attempts to take control of her life. She's given them everything she could over the years, but now they want Penelope to sell her most prized possession. Torn between the selfish demands of her children and her desire to hold onto cherished mementos of the past, Penelope must learn what is really important to her. She returns to the seashore, the only place she was ever truly free, in an unforgettable odyssey that will take her back to her home, her heart and another chance for happiness.

Customer Reviews

Disappointing revision of the book
This should have been a wonderful movie--Angela Lansbury and most of the rest of the cast are terrific. But someone decided that the book was too sad as originally written. I don't want to give away the book's story for those who haven't read it yet, but two major deaths have been written out and family reconciliations abound. The novel was much tougher--and truer--as written by Ms. Pilcher. Totally unnecessary.

A pleasant way to spend and afternoon...
I have read Rosamunde Plicher's novel THE SHELL SEEKERS seven times, and the movie brought the characters alive for me. Anglela Lansbury played the aging though vibrantant and sensitive Penelope Keeling perfectly. The other characters were also cast quite well. I felt the movie was a terrific representation of a very well written novel. As always it is difficult to fit every tid bit into a movie to make it exactly like a book, but this movie comes close to being as moving as the novel.

Turn it off before the last 20 minutes.
This is one of my favorite books and after re-reading it for the umpteenth time I decided to purchase the Hallmark Hall of Fame version. The first part is very good for a TV movie - beautiful locations, fine acting (how can one fault Angela Lansbury?), and relatively faithful to the story (one must take into consideration that time is of the essence on TV and often plots become condensed). However, to TOTALLY change the ending (a medical mis-diagnosis unexplained and bringing characters back from the dead to name only two!) was unconscionable. The power of the story was lost and it turned into just another tear-jerker. It would be as if Scarlett and Rhett rode off into the sunset together and lived happily ever after! BUT, if you've never read the book it would be an enjoyable couple of hours entertainment. I will never watch The Shell Seekers again, and am putting mine up for sale (cheap!).