Blessed Stranger: After Flight 111 (2000 TV Movie) User Reviews

Not the typical cliché production!!

[PeterAndTheWolves · 7/10 · 24 February 2007]

Hello there, I just did come home from visiting my parents.

When at my parents house,"Blessed Stranger"just started. Normally I disgust pulp movies.. so I also was thinking of this movie the first minute. What actually made me keep watching was the score/soundtrack. Even after 10 minutes the music mesmerized me, it sounded like "Hans Zimmer's - Gladiator,(Lisa Gerrard). I had to leave already after 30 minutes but those 30 minutes of movie where enough for me to understand that "Blessed Stranger" is NOT a pulp movie. It is not over-acted and the characters are for "real". I am going to hunt for that OST! SO, anyone who can help me with that?? Just let me know. Cheers and thank for you minute.

Bye . Peter

Better than it should be

[rocky_wood · 6/10 · 4 November 2001]

This is one of those movies that turns out to be more satisfying than you expect. Get past the first 1/2 hour and there actually turns out to be a story. Nelligan is very good and while there are no surprises the ending is compelling and satisfactory. Lots of nice little parts by bit actors and its good to hear that Nova Scotian accent so prominent in a movie. Give it a go - you wont be disappointed

The mother of a victim of a plane crash and a fisherman who aided in the recovery effort find solace in sharing their experience.

[Iola2003 · 21 March 2003]

A slowly paced and very well written film that follows the parallel stories of the mother of one of flight 111's victims, and a fisherman who helps with the recovery effort. By opening after the crash, the film ablely conveys the horror and tragedy of it without resorting to gratuitous footage. Kate Nelligan plays the mother and gives a nuanced performance, conveying her transformation from shock to denial to grief with authenticity. The details of the fisherman's life are doled out in small samples only when needed, giving the character a richness and honesty that is compelling. Details such as how the victim's belongings are identified add to the immediacy and tragedy of the story without overwhelming the viewer. The writer develops the plot by using flashbacks to hint at what lies beneath the grief and shock that both characters feel. Despite the fact that a few of the other characters seem superfluous, as they are never developed, the core of the story is solid. Though a sense of the ending is predictable, the story never resorts to cliches and never becomes too saccharine, making the conclusion a satisfying one.

Excellent, haunting drama. A rare gem of a TV movie

[Tony-166 · 8/10 · 22 February 2005]

This film just had an airing on UK television. I have to say just how unexpectedly good it was. A complete surprise. You rarely get performances as good as this in TV films of this nature. I suppose the fact that it was a Canadian production was a factor. It portrays ordinary people going through some traumatic times, and it does so with an immense amount of tact and feeling. It is heart-wrenching at points which isn't surprising considering the subject matter, but it is well worth keeping a look out for. Gently, and profoundly moving, with excellent location shooting and an apt musical score. Wish I had taped it. These sort of productions never seem to have any kind of review prior to transmission so there is never any way to know whether or not it is likely to be any good.

Can you respect a film?

[beau geste 38 · 9/10 · 22 February 2005]

This movie tackled closure, which is probably the hardest part of grieving, especially after a disaster. I will never again be able to watch a disaster on the news, without thinking about this film. Much of the film deals with the trauma experienced by families of the victims. Even though it followed the grief of just one of the families, you just new that it represented all of them. We also see the heart wrenching effect it had on one of the fishermen and his family, and once again can sense the effect that it had on the whole community. But by involving the residents, rescuers, medical examiners, and even the media, it broke away from the usual corny disaster movies. If this had been Crowe and Winslett I don't think I would have respected it so much. Not knowing any of the actors helped me appreciate it more. I just couldn't see Nelligan worrying about her makeup or hair. I thought Thomson must have been a fisherman before turning to acting. I really respect this film. Everyone involved should be proud of it.

Excellent drama

[airodyssey · 22 October 2000]

I am tempted to call this movie the "Testament" of air disaster movies. What I mean to say is that "Blessed Stranger" is to the gory air disaster movies like the "Airport" movies... just like "Testament" is to "The Day After" or "Threads". Instead of focusing on the destruction, the special effects, the disaster itself, it focuses on the aftermath, and the people behind it: the survivors.

Well, actually, there are no survivors since, as you know, when Swissair flight 111 went down, 229 people perished. The only survivors are the friends and family of the victims. Although the characters in "Blessed Stranger" are fictitious, the historical background is very realistic.

I loved this movie because it was very sensitive. I have rarely seen actors portraying their roles so well... or tears sound so real. Sure, you might get a tad bored of seeing people crying all the time, but that's the sad reality of grief. Kate Nelligan and Hugh Thompson are outstanding, respectively as the mother of one of the victims, and as a fisherman who helped the rescue efforts, which, as we know, became rather a body and debris collection mission afterwards.

Too bad it's just a made-for-TV movie, that will not be seen again, probably for a long long time. I'm glad that if anyone dared to make a movie out of Swissair flight 111, it was the Canadians, and they did it just right!

Terrific TearJerker

[rps-2 · 9/10 · 31 December 2005]

It's doubtful this will turn up anytime soon as an in flight movie. It is a very sensitive telling of events after the crash of Swissair Flight 111 off Peggy's Cove Nova Scotia.It's a terrific tear jerker but not in any shallow sense. Kate Nelligan demonstrates once more what an incredibly powerful actress she is. Not too often does an actress bring moisture to the corner of my eyes. Nelligan captured the horrible loss, sorrow, doubts, anguish, frustration and regrets of a bereaved parent so perfectly and without resorting to being maudlin or melodramatic. The lady is a national treasure! Not that the rest of the cast wasn't terrific too. This is a delightfully compassionate and richly human film, very sad but very beautiful.

An amazing piece!

[lindasko1999 · 9/10 · 25 September 2005]

Oh my gosh, I just got finished watching this show!! What a tear-jerker!! :( A show like this highlights the AMAZING talent in Canada, that often goes overlooked. Beautiful Kate Nelligan gave a strong performance as always. The whole show really pulled at the heart strings, but the final scene broke me down! Hugh Johnson did a TOTALLY believable job...you'd really think he IS the character, not an actor. He really should become a household name! A superlative soundtrack. A deep story about people, and a little bit of what is now Canadian history.

Kudos!

This movie shows the intense personal nature of grief.

[rhhershberger · 10/10 · 22 October 2002]

I'm watching this movie as I'm writing these comments. Anyone who has experienced tragic loss can identify with one of the characters. Kate Nelligan projects a range of emotions and frustration seldom seen outside of theater. Kudos to the writers for characters that can't be forgotten. You can't watch this movie without be haunted by the location, the music, and the story.

It's hard to be objective....

[vileconundrum · 5 November 2000]

When I turned on the tv the morning after the crash and saw tape of the fishermen who had been the first to reach the crash site, my first thought was not for the dead but for those who had to deal with the horror of having hundreds of strangers die in their midst. For months afterward there were soldiers and sailors walking along the shore looking for debris, and ships trying to bring up wreckage. When the movie was made almost two years later it was still unthinkable to make it at Peggy's Cove where the crash took place. Many people objected to the film being made at all as being exploitative. So it is hard to be objective about the movie. I found it moving and sensitive, and was pleased to see it addressed the trauma of those on the ground. No movie ever suffered from having Kate Nelligan in it, of course, and the rest of the cast is restrained as befits the theme of unresolved grief. By all means see this one.

Emotional

[sacredheartband · 8/10 · 29 July 2013]

I'm not going to go into any detail regards the background/story - the IMDb description says it all.

What sets this apart from other TV movies is it pulls no punches and lacks any kind of sugary/feel good factor - it shows an emotional side to a tragedy, where, by all accounts there is no positive outcome...

The performances are great, particularly Hugh Thompson.

And if the scene where the two leads head out to the crash site doesn't bring a tear (or in my case quite a few...) to your eyes, I'll be very surprised. Excellent and heartbreaking moment.

It's not going to change your life, it's not Oscar worthy filmography - but it will kill a couple of hours: invest your concentration and emotions in it and you'll be drawn in and entertained.

Strangers bound together by tragedy!

[phillip-610-869279 · 8/10 · 23 August 2016]

After the crash of Swissair Flight 111 in the Atlantic Ocean near St. Margarets Bay, Nova Scotia, Canada in September 1998, two strangers are bound together by the tragedy. Kate Nelligan plays Kate O Rourke the mother of one of the passengers on board and Hugh Thompson plays Elliott Barkhouse a local fisherman still traumatised by his failure to rescue anyone from the sea, following the crash he finds a sweater that belonged to Kate O Rourke's daughter and repairs it, she is then determined to found the person who had an item that was so close to her daughter. The film is really well written and covers all aspects of what it must truly be like to lose a loved one in these kind of circumstances. It covers loss, grief, love, strength & togetherness perfectly and towards the end some good is found between two people who are now bound together forever.

Powerful dramatization of Swissair flight 111 showcasing a distraught mother and a local fisherman

[juneebuggy · 8/10 · 27 February 2015]

This was actually really good for a (Canadian) made for TV movie. Not cheesy like a lot of these dramatizations tend to be. The story revolves around Swissair flight 111 and centers on an American woman who rushes to Nova Scotia in hopes of finding that her teenage daughter survived the crash and one of the fishermen who assisted with the rescue (recovery) mission.

The tie that binds these characters together takes form with a sweater that the fisherman plucks from the waters and for whatever reason repairs, sewing the arm back on. The mother (in flashbacks) remembers the last conversation she had with her daughter and the argument about her buying the sweater (mother felt it was too masculine).

As things progress it is one of the items amongst thousands that 'Kate' is able to identify as belonging to her daughter and she wants to find the person who fixed it and learn why. Meanwhile 'Everett' the fisherman is going through some serious PTSD and is unable to take his boat out onto the water anymore. Initially he doesn't want to meet with Kate but together they help each other heal.

While this movie didn't start until after the crash it still managed to convey the horror and tragedy in a very real way and the time line of events unfolding in this small fishing community with the recovery efforts, media and grieving family members was gripping. I also enjoyed how this story was told from both sides of the tragedy, it felt authentic. The performances from both Kate Nelligan and Hugh Thompson are powerful and raw. 1/1/15

A beautiful movie sculpted from a terrible disaster

[christinejbutt · 10/10 · 17 December 2010]

I noticed this movie on TV one day and the title drew me in. Being from Nova Scotia, The accident was quite important to me. I immediately started watching, not knowing what to expect. I enjoyed the movie too much, I was watching it over and over again. I was amazed at the talent these actors had in them to play these roles. Kate Nelligan looked like a grieving mother, and I would've though Hugh Thompson fished his whole life. What I liked about this movie is that it never showed the accident, it was all afterword. there were no fancy special effects most people expect from a Hollywood movie, I liked that because it gave it personality. If the same movie was made in Hollywood I wouldn't have liked it as much. Not many movies make me cry, simply because they were overacted and fake. In this movie, I cried. My mom even joined me in the last ten minutes, and we were crying together. It was a daring move, in my opinion, to make a movie out of Swissair 111, especially considering the fact that the movie was made only two years after the accident. But I'm pleased that the movie was made.

want to purchase movie

[moniq-07037 · 7 March 2017]

I would like to purchase this movie...anyone? Love the movie and will Be visiting the memorial site this summer in nova scotia. I have tried everything to find this movie. I watched it twice on t.v and highly recommend it, if you can find it. Please let me know if anyone knows how i can get a copy. DVD or VHS