Plainsong

For a close-knit group of people in a Colorado prairie community, a womanÕs inexplicable disappearance triggers a time of loss, radical change, and a new outlook on the necessity of family and friendship. A simple day that starts off like so many others for Tom Guthrie (Emmy nominee Aiden Quinn, Benny & Joon), a high school teacher in Holt, Colorado, becomes a turning point in his life when his wife suddenly abandons him and their two young boys Ike and Bobby. Though faced with a seemingly insurmountable challenge, he and his sons are not alone. TheyÕve not only taken to Ida Stearns (Marion Seldes, Hollywood Ending), an elderly and lonely lady adrift herself and in need of friendship, but a fellow teacher, Maggie Jonas (Emmy and Oscar nominee Rachel Griffiths, Six Feet Under), has taken to Tom. As Ike and Bobby deal with a wayward and dangerous school peer, they also become aware of their father's needs and learn to find comfort in their new extended family. 17-year-old Victoria Roubideaux (America Ferrara, Real Women Have Curves), unmarried, pregnant, and evicted by her mother. She seeks help from down-to-earth guardian Maggie, who convinces two elderly brothers to let Victoria live on their cattle ranch. Though the arrangement is an unexpected one, these gruff bachelors and their need to protect the vulnerable teen redefines the term nuclear family but not before their capacity to forgive is sorely tested. As the divergent Plainsong stories of Tom and Maggie, Ida, Ike and Bobby, and Victoria and her surrogate fathers unfold, so, too, does a unifying story of grief and bereavement, of kindness and benevolence, and of the human capacity to forgive and heal.

Directed by Richard Pearce (South Pacific) and adapted by Oliver Goldstick (Everwood), the 218th Hallmark Hall of Fame presentation is based on Ken Haruf's compelling, heartfelt, and multiple award-winning novel of a small town and the lessons it learns about love.