Skylark parents guide

Skylark Parent Guide

Skylark offers good family entertainment, even if it suffers from too much of a storybook ending.

Overall B

Skylark picks up the tale of Sarah, Plain And Tall two years later. Now the Wittings are facing a drought on the prairies. The family desperately works to keep their farm, even as they watch many of their friends and neighbours abandon their land.

Release date February 7, 1993

Violence A
Sexual Content A
Profanity A
Substance Use --

Why is Skylark rated G? The MPAA rated Skylark G

Run Time: 95 minutes

Parent Movie Review

Skylark is the sequel to Sarah, Plain And Tall. Both films were produced for television and partially financed by the Hallmark Card Company. The first installment was a wonderful, albeit sentimental story. But Skylark, although a film suitable for all ages, has a few flaws within the story.

Two years have passed since the first film, and Kansas in the early 1900’s is looking dry and miserable. A drought has hit the area, and the Witting family vow to keep their farm, even as they watch all of their friends and neighbours abandon their land. Sarah finally takes the children with her, as she returns home to Maine to leave Jacob to keep the place together. Finally, the rain comes, and things start to look better.

If the story sounds too simple to be real, you may be right. Although written by the author of the original Sarah, Plain And Tall, it seems that Patricia MacLachlan may never have set foot on a farm. Just one example is the end of the film. Jacob stays at the farm while Sarah is in Maine. He waits, twiddling his thumbs, for the rain to come. Finally it does, and he leaves to get Sarah.

The viewer is under the impression that she has been gone most of the summer, and the leaves in Maine are turning orange. But when they get home, a happy neighbour who has offered assistance, announces that everything is wonderful, and there is even wheat in the field. Perhaps they don’t have winter in Kansas.

Skylark, which certainly offers good entertainment, is a wonderful family film. However, writers need to realize a family film doesn’t always require a picture book ending. It just needs to be a quality story without the sex, violence, and language found in other movies. Adult and serious themes can be presented in this format, it just takes a bit more creativity, and maybe that’s where the problem is.

Directed by Joseph Sargent. Starring Glenn Close, Christopher Walken, Lexi Randall. Running time: 95 minutes. Theatrical release February 7, 1993. Updated

Related news about Skylark

Great Mother’s Day Movies - Part 2

Great Mother’s Day Movies - Part 2

{parents:pull_quote}