Booky Makes Her Mark Melodramatically

Booky Makes Her Mark is the first in a series of Canadian made-for-TV movies based on a book series about a Depression-era family living in Toronto. However, it takes place several years after the two movies that follow it, and it was the third movie that I saw. Hence, I had a hard time thinking of it as the first. While all the movies were directed by Peter Moss, there are significant differences between this movie and the next two, and I’m not sure which is truer to the book. In any case, although I mostly enjoyed this installment, it’s easily my least favorite of the three.

The only actors who appear in both this movie and the ones that follow are Megan Follows and Stuart Hughes, who are Francie and Thomas Thomson, Booky’s parents. Francie is tough and resourceful, while Thomas is hardworking but very angsty. As the movie begins, Thomas is once again out of work, and the family is evicted. It’s just the first in a string of unfortunate events that occur in this rather bleak film. Despite the difficult times, the other two movies have an upbeat tone to them, and nothing ever seems to get Francie down for long, but here, she is almost as cantankerous as Thomas, who is at his most ornery yet.

Tatiana Maslany looks as though she could legitimately be the older version of Rachel Marcus, the actress who plays Booky in the other two movies. In this one, she is 15 years old, and that means major teen melodrama. The 11-year-old is almost always cheerful and plucky, but at 15, she is prone to flinging herself down on her bed and wailing, “This is the worst day of my life!” It seems every time something good happens to her, something comes along to ruin it. Granted, her misery is usually at least somewhat understandable, but she almost always blows it out of proportion, especially considering the life-or-death concerns that plague her parents. It would seem I should relate to her more in this movie than the others, since it is here that she decides she wants to be a writer, but more often than not, I found her behavior annoying. Her most redeeming quality is her consistent kindness to Roy-Roy (Philip Riccio), a mentally disabled man who lives in the neighborhood.

Booky’s little brother Jakey, who provides many light moments in the other two movies, is nowhere in sight. Not having read the books, I don’t know if something happened to the character or if he was just cut from the adaptation and then added back in later, but I missed his presence, particularly since Booky’s older brother Arthur (Erik Knudsen) is such an obnoxious ne’er-do-well in this one. The character whose personality is most consistent throughout the series is Willa (Sarah Allen), Booky’s sweet, studious older sister, but oddly, she seems to be the same age in this movie as she is in the other two.

Additionally, it’s a little jarring that neither of Booky’s close female friends is in this movie, though rich blonde Gloria (Kate Todd) is similar to Laura and plain brunette Ada-May (Lauren Collins) is a lot like Rosie. Georgie (Ephraim Ellis), the object of Booky’s affections in Booky’s Crush, is present, but she doesn’t think much of him, instead reserving her ardor for the wealthy and handsome Lorne (Mike Lobel).

As Booky’s parents try to scrape out the family’s survival, Booky deals with a series of humiliations, some the fault of her parents, others the fault of her friends but most at least partly her own fault, as she is so prone to overreactions. The mildest criticism sends her into the depths of despair, while an accomplishment turns her into an insufferable egotist. My favorite segment of the movie finds her out in the country with her hardscrabble Aunt Aggie (Roberta Maxwell), a spinster farmer, working her fingers to the bone in the hopes that all that clean country air will cure her of her chronic cough. Aggie’s determination and no-nonsense way of putting things is refreshing in the midst of all the soaring teen emotions.

As with the other movies in the series, this one is rich in period detail, and the sets look very realistic. I would say this one is a bit less of a family film, since none of the characters are younger than their teens and since the overall tone is darker. There’s also a bit of profanity, and we see several teens smoking cigarettes. On the other hand, one point of interest unique to this movie is the presence of L. M. Montgomery, author of the Anne of Green Gables series, as a character who meets with Booky and offers her advice on her writing craft. Fans of Anne or other Montgomery characters may want to check out the movie just for that. While I prefer the movies that focus on Booky’s younger years, Booky Makes Her Mark is still a well-crafted film that shines a light on a fascinating historical period.