At the end of last year, Like Dandelion Dust, popular Christian author Karen Kingsbury's novel, was adapted for the big screen. In January 2011 it made it to DVD format, hitting the shelves in hundreds of stores across the country.
The story is complex. Wendy Porter made a selfless decision when she gave up her baby for adoption while her husband Rip was in prison for domestic violence against her. A few years later, Wendy tells a now-free Rip about their son. As he comes to realize that Wendy forged his signature on the adoption papers, Rip persuades Wendy that it is in their best interests to bring their son home. Jack and Molly Campbell, adoptive parents of young Joey, are shocked to hear that the court is in favor of returning their son to his birth parents, especially to his abusive father. In an effort to save their son, Jack and Molly do everything possible to avoid the court's ruling.
Like Dandelion Dust is an adoption nightmare, to say the least. One of my favorite Karen Kingsbury tales, the book shows in a forgiving, redemptive sort of way that, no matter how hard we try, God is ultimately the one we must rely on. I love the characters of Like Dandelion Dust because each grows in his or her own way throughout the story. The plot especially brings up the question of how far parents are willing to go to save their child.
I was excited to see the movie after seeing a couple of great previews. There seems to be, in my eyes, two distinctive downsides of Christian films: either the acting is horrendous or the storyline borders on cheesy (i.e. in the end everyone comes to Christ and suddenly life is all roses, which is not often the case). Like Dandelion Dust, pleasantly, is neither.
The unfortunate thing about Like Dandelion Dust is that nearly all of the Christian themes have been extracted from the original plot. In the book, each character comes to see, little by little, that only God can forgive, save, and strengthen. The movie seems to have lost all of that, besides a few mentions of church and missions trips. So instead of a story of God's love and forgiveness, it is a story of human's desperation and hopelessness.
As the movie stands alone, I enjoy it because it is a telling and thought-provoking piece. But still, the book Like Dandelion Dust holds much more, and I wish the movie would have been more true to it.
Boy, that does sound like a nightmare. I've always thought that I would adopt someday, but I can't imagine adopting only to have my child torn away from me like that!
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