The Sandy Bottom Orchestra (2000)

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Adapted from a novel by Garrison Keillor and Jenny Lind Nillson, this made-for-Showtime movie is set in the conservative small town of Sandy Bottom, WI, where life moves along at a pleasantly quaint pace and doctors still make house calls. Although life may be agreeable for most of the town's… More Adapted from a novel by Garrison Keillor and Jenny Lind Nillson, this made-for-Showtime movie is set in the conservative small town of Sandy Bottom, WI, where life moves along at a pleasantly quaint pace and doctors still make house calls. Although life may be agreeable for most of the town's residents, it has never been easy for Ingrid Green (Glenne Headly), a classically trained pianist who moved to Sandy Bottom years ago with her dairy farmer husband Norman (Tom Irwin). Politically outspoken and cheerfully eccentric, Ingrid has never fit in with the town's residents, and when Norman announces his intention to put together a classical concert instead of the traditional marching band for the town's Dairy Days, his decision sets in motion a whole chain of events that disrupt everyday life in Sandy Bottom. Meanwhile, Ingrid and Norman's daughter Rachel (Madeline Zima) is struggling with her own problems: a star violinist who has inherited her mother's talent, she is concerned that she has also inherited Ingrid's eccentricities, and the fact that she's growing away from her best friend and wants to attend a musical academy doesn't make fitting in any easier. ~ Rebecca Flint Marx, Rovi