TV REVIEWS : Cast Shines in ‘Homecoming’

“Homecoming,” Cynthia Voigt’s Newbery Medal-winning novel about four abandoned children trying to find a place to belong, is a terrific book. It would be difficult for a movie version to match it, but Showtime’s beautifully made adaptation, debuting Sunday and starring Anne Bancroft and a splendid child cast, comes close.

The story is deceptively simple: After her mentally ill mother disappears, a 13-year-old girl, determined that she and her three siblings won’t be separated, takes them on a grueling trek through Connecticut, seeking refuge with an aunt they’ve never met. When that fails, they pin their hopes on an estranged grandmother.

Some of the book’s fans will be disappointed at what writers Mark Jean (who also directs) and Christopher Carlson left out--a good deal of the long trek, the circus and its kindly owner, the unsavory farmer--but they won’t be disappointed with what was left in.

The abbreviated journey retains a sense of challenge, even if the encounter with the pinched charity of a cousin (a cameo by Bonnie Bedelia) is too brief. The film’s emphasis, however, is on the children’s encounter with their grandmother (Bancroft).

Bancroft’s vanity-free portrayal of a combative, aging recluse is a pleasure. Although it’s no stretch to suspect that Gram will come around, Bancroft brings moving truth to the transition.

The child actors are worthy foils. Kimberlee Peterson soulfully reveals 13-year-old Dicey’s internal dialogue of love, fear and determination. Trever O’Brien makes James’ intelligence and spunk ring true, little William Greenblatt brings spirited, 6-year-old Sammy to life and Hanna Hall (“Forest Gump”) is poignant as shy 9-year-old Maybeth.

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“Homecoming” airs Sunday at 8 p.m. on Showtime; repeats Monday, 11:15 a.m. and 9:36 p.m.; April 24, 11 a.m. and 5:45 p.m.; April 27, 4:15 p.m.; April 28, 5 a.m.