Where do I begin? First, let's start on the predictability of the story. I could have predicted the bones of the entire story, including the baby by the dead husband, after watching the first five minutes of the movie.
Could there be any more Western clichés? Let's see: Pregnant by a dead husband, instructing someone to boil the water when the baby's born, the stranger you're married to has to deliver the baby, the greenhorn woman who, in the words of the rather spiteful child she's caring for, "can't do anything useful." Oh, and let's not forget the complete unbelievability of having a just-born baby and his mother fully dressed and completely free of any blood or bodily fluids within just minutes after the birth. Boy, I wish I'd been able to invoke that cliché after my daughter was born.
I also slapped my forehead several times at the complete idiocy of some of the scenes. First, any idiot who's ever ridden a horse knows you don't go chasing after it, like Heigl's first husband did. Let's see, it's not carrying the burden of a man, and you don't even have a lasso if you do catch up with it. D'oh. The man's handled horses halfway across the country and he doesn't know to get a little corn or sweet feed or a carrot and lure the horse over to him?? Next, having Missy fire the gun during the whiteout. Okay, I can see the logic there, but what does she do? Stands there with the *door open* in the middle of a howling blizzard. Hello? Can you say, letting out all the heat *and* probably making the fire go out?? And last but not least, when the barn that's about 50 feet away from the house is burning down, Clark tells Matty to stay in the house with the children. Hello again? If you're that close to a burning building, get OUT of the building, in case the one you're in gets set ablaze! And while you're at it, start trucking out your valuables from the house, in case.
I simply could not see people with the experience these people were supposed to have had making these kind of errors. It really threw me out of the story.
The character of Matty was all right, probably the best in the film (which isn't saying much). Clark, however, was two-dimensional and pious to the point of nausea. I realize it's a Christian film, but do they have to drive the point home with a sledgehammer? The little girl was so predictable in everything she did, it was unreal. Gee, she's a brat. Gee, she wears pants, because, of course, every little girl without a mom becomes a horrible tomboy! And gee, of course, she hates Matty, until Matty makes her a dress, at which point, she does the predictable 180.
I also saw absolutely no reason these two would have suddenly fallen for each other. There was simply no character development along that line. One day, Matty's barely speaking to Clark, and the next -- how droll! -- she's pushing him over in the garden and he's tickling her. It's almost like I heard the director say, "Okay, you're in love now!" Totally unbelievable.
This isn't family entertainment. We can think of a lot more entertaining things to do than watch this dreck. C'mon, people, throw some plot into a story for a change!
Could there be any more Western clichés? Let's see: Pregnant by a dead husband, instructing someone to boil the water when the baby's born, the stranger you're married to has to deliver the baby, the greenhorn woman who, in the words of the rather spiteful child she's caring for, "can't do anything useful." Oh, and let's not forget the complete unbelievability of having a just-born baby and his mother fully dressed and completely free of any blood or bodily fluids within just minutes after the birth. Boy, I wish I'd been able to invoke that cliché after my daughter was born.
I also slapped my forehead several times at the complete idiocy of some of the scenes. First, any idiot who's ever ridden a horse knows you don't go chasing after it, like Heigl's first husband did. Let's see, it's not carrying the burden of a man, and you don't even have a lasso if you do catch up with it. D'oh. The man's handled horses halfway across the country and he doesn't know to get a little corn or sweet feed or a carrot and lure the horse over to him?? Next, having Missy fire the gun during the whiteout. Okay, I can see the logic there, but what does she do? Stands there with the *door open* in the middle of a howling blizzard. Hello? Can you say, letting out all the heat *and* probably making the fire go out?? And last but not least, when the barn that's about 50 feet away from the house is burning down, Clark tells Matty to stay in the house with the children. Hello again? If you're that close to a burning building, get OUT of the building, in case the one you're in gets set ablaze! And while you're at it, start trucking out your valuables from the house, in case.
I simply could not see people with the experience these people were supposed to have had making these kind of errors. It really threw me out of the story.
The character of Matty was all right, probably the best in the film (which isn't saying much). Clark, however, was two-dimensional and pious to the point of nausea. I realize it's a Christian film, but do they have to drive the point home with a sledgehammer? The little girl was so predictable in everything she did, it was unreal. Gee, she's a brat. Gee, she wears pants, because, of course, every little girl without a mom becomes a horrible tomboy! And gee, of course, she hates Matty, until Matty makes her a dress, at which point, she does the predictable 180.
I also saw absolutely no reason these two would have suddenly fallen for each other. There was simply no character development along that line. One day, Matty's barely speaking to Clark, and the next -- how droll! -- she's pushing him over in the garden and he's tickling her. It's almost like I heard the director say, "Okay, you're in love now!" Totally unbelievable.
This isn't family entertainment. We can think of a lot more entertaining things to do than watch this dreck. C'mon, people, throw some plot into a story for a change!