Anne of Green Gables: The Continuing Story (2000)
	Rating: 6.8/10 (2695 votes) Director: Stefan Scaini Writer: Jeff Boulton (interactive adaptation), Lucy Maud Montgomery (characters), Laurie Pearson, Kevin Sullivan Stars: Megan Follows, Jonathan Crombie, Schuyler Grant, Greg Spottiswood Runtime: 185 min Rated: N/A Genre: Drama, Family, Romance Released: 23 Jul 2000
Plot: The continuing adventures of Anne Shirley in New York and in France during World War I.

When I was a child, I loved the first three Anne of Green Gables novels by L.M. Montgomery (for some reason I only found out that there were many more Anne books when I was much older – when I did, it felt like a Christmas present!). I also totally adore the first two tv movies by Kevin Sullivan starring Megan Follows as the imaginative orphan Anne Shirley. While they take some liberties with the books (especially the second one, which picks and chooses from several novels), they remain true to the irrepressible spirit of the books and the beloved characters. Plus, the scenery of Prince Edward Island, the location of Anne’s beloved Avonlea, is stunningly brought to life.

However, having read some reviews, I hesitated for a long time to watch the third – and unfortunately, I was right, since the movie is a complete mess and almost painful to watch at times.

First of all, because of a lawsuit, Sullivan was unable to use Montgomery’s books and instead very, very loosely borrowed from Rilla of Ingleside – a book about Anne & Gil’s daughter, which shows how impossible the timeline is, since Anne & Gilbert would be long-grown by WWI. I’m pretty sure I could have forgiven this, however, if the heart of the movie had remained the same. Instead we are thrown into an unnecessarily convoluted plot, which just seems to become more and more improbable by the minute.

I find it very hard to believe that Anne & Gilbert would still be unmarried five years after the last movie, considering the times they live in (even if one accepts that somehow it’s suddenly 1915) and that Anne would have allowed Green Gables to become a complete ruin. And then there’s Diana, “full of airs and graces” (as her mother of all people points out!) since inheriting her aunt’s money, even if the sad state of her marriage is probably quite realistic for the era, and the tiny cameos of people like Mrs. Lynde.

Then there’s a dashing author who falls in love with Anne while she and Gil are living in New York (still unmarried *headdesk*), and who later gets Anne involved with an utterly ridiculous spy plot (resulting in her running around war-torn France with an infant *more headdesk*). And as if that wasn’t enough, while Anne going off to war in order to find a missing Gilbert (who she finally married, at least) might be in character for our headstrong and impulsive heroine, she spends way too much time playing house with not only aforementioned author/spy but even with Diana’s own husband Fred, who she miraculously stumbled across the moment she arrived at the front. Let’s not even start talking about how realistic or historically accurate the WWI setting is depicted. Just… arrrgh!

The whole thing is just a complete and utter disaster! The only reason it gets the rating it does is because of little moments in which Megan Follows and Jonathan Crombie (RIP) shine, mostly together, bringing back some of the old magic. I still feel the urgent need to re-watch the first two movies now, though, to cleanse my palate.