BroadcastChic
Excellent, a Must See
Murphy Howard
I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.
Tyreece Hulme
One of the best movies of the year! Incredible from the beginning to the end.
Tobias Burrows
It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.
duster1979
The plot is pretty standard family-movie fare: Dad had to abandon a promising sports career due to an injury and now competes vicariously through his talented daughter who would prefer to live a "normal" life and continues to compete just to please dad. Daughter finds out that Dad has put the family in financial dire straits and takes it upon herself to save the family. In the end everything works out fine. It's not a bad plot, just not particularly original.In this case the backdrop is team sorting. Having been a horseman and rodeo fan for many years, I know a little about this sport. It's not really a "big money" proposition; mostly it's an event that Joe Average Wannabe Cowboy can compete in if he doesn't have the time, money, or dedication to compete in roping or cutting. There are a couple of sanctioning bodies out there with circuit championships that pay a little, but if someone was able to win as much as $30,000 in a year doing it they would probably have to spend $35,000 in direct expenses and lost wages to make it happen. It's certainly not something that a rational person would mortgage the house against future winnings on. So that part of the movie doesn't really fly with me. Also, when Brooke rides the replacement horse for the first time, she tells it that she wants to see what it can do and proceeds to run it across the countryside at a full gallop. Which would tell her absolutely nothing about how the horse would perform in a sorting event, but was probably more fun for young girls to watch. And last but not least (in fact, possibly worst), when Brooke's parents get home and realize that she has left for the competition, her mom says that she took "her saddle and all the tackle." If she took tackle you would assume that she's going fishing. the equipment used in riding a horse is called TACK (no -le). The fact that this line made it through tells me that nobody involved with the film had any idea what they were talking about. Oh, the horse being constantly tied up while standing in the stall was annoying, as well.The acting was decent, and the beautiful scenery made watching the film tolerable. I sort of enjoyed it in spite of myself. If you enjoy this sort of film it's worth watching if you stumble across it on Hallmark and have nothing to do for a couple of hours. Otherwise, don't bother.
edwagreen
Interesting but cliché film dealing with a rodeo family. The father was injured in an accident some years before and that ended his career.Mom works as a waitress in a restaurant while the daughter dreams of becoming a vet while doing some ride competing for the family to earn dollars.Dad loses his job and it looks like the daughter will never get to college to pursue her dreams as she is dropping out. I love the way she drops back in by handing in her extra credit project to gain a scholarship and then catch up on the work she missed. Before all this, she tutors a boy in biology and love blossoms.With the horses conking out, dad suddenly is able to ride again and prevail. Daddy had lost his job as a repair person for not being that responsible on the job.We've seen this before. I gave it *** for those who like riding but really this is a **1/2 production.
dkhoover
Kind of a Fluff piece. Having ridden all of my life, and having my Grandfather teach me, even to include corrective Shoeing of a horse, the opening of the movie kind of insults my intelligence. Here is a woman supposedly a top penning rider, and she does not have a clue about how to ride a cutting horse. She holds the reins separately in each hand and reins as if she were reining a plow horse. All riders, even novices know that you hold the reins together and lay them against the side of the horses neck to rein the horse in the direction you wish to go. Also the type of horse that would be doing this type of work, is a cutting horse, and is directed more with leg and knee pressure. A good cutting horse, you can drop the reins on their neck, and work with leg pressure only to direct them, and never touch the reins. Maybe next time they will get a rider who actually knows how to ride a horse. As far as the rest of the movie. About the same. Milk Toast plot, Father has visions of one life for Daughter and Daughter has her own visions. What can I say. Another movie filmed in Canada with a Canadian view on our lives. They do not have a clue about life in the real world.
TxMike
This Hallmark movie was on tonight. Set in Washington state, the surroundings looked more like Canada. Plus the young actors who played the boy and girl said "a-boot" for 'about', which is the Canadian way. However those were just points of interest, and did not detract from my enjoyment of the movie. I suppose it is still considerably more cost-effective (cheaper) to make movies there.Stephen Collins is Joe, former champion horseman who was badly injured 18 years earlier, and had to give up competitive cutting horse riding. However now he has a 17-year-old daughter who has become a champion rider under his coaching. Within the story we find out that she never really considered whether she actually wanted to do that, it was just something she always had done. It was her father's way of living the life he could not any longer. The mother is played by Barbara Williams as Helen, who also plays the guitar and sings.Canadian Magda Apanowicz is the girl, Brooke Preston, and she really does look 17 even though she is now in her 20s. The boy she becomes friends with is Canadian Brett Dier, a real teenager, as Caden.As the story progresses we find out that Joe was so focused on his daughter's riding that he didn't always take care of business at home and at work, as a mechanic. The family begins to worry that they may even lose their home. Brooke wants to go to college to be a Vet but worries that her parents may not be able to afford to send her. Joe had been counting on winnings from the horse competitions but when Brooke's horse broke down everything looked gray.A good, clean family drama that doesn't break any new ground, but has a worthwhile message.