The Pearls of the Stone Man

Joseph and Anne Marino's idyllic 50-year marriage is rocked in this pedestrian inspirational tearjerker when Anne is diagnosed with a terminal heart condition. Joseph tries to make her last few months as comfortable as possible, but all Anne wants is for Joseph to finish the stone wall he's been promising to build and to make peace with their estranged son. In the process, they also take on wayward teen Shannon, who desperately needs a parental figure. Once Anne dies, Shannon tries to comfort Joseph, who continues to build the stone wall in Anne's memory. The reading experience is nothing short of excruciating: the characters are caricatures, their motivations are simplistic, and the plot is pat and uninteresting. If there's merit here, it's deeply hidden. (Mar.)