Take Me Home: The John Denver Story

Chad Lowe is simply awful. The lip synching he does for the songs is almost funny. He has never been a very effective actor but this performance wouldn't even get noticed in a high school competition. One has to wonder how he got this gig.

The other actors and actresses in the movie do a good job but no one stands out. The worst part about Chad Lowe's performance is that it is so bad that it overshadows the effort of every other performer.

The story of John Denver is a compelling and interesting one. Unfortunately, this movie does almost nothing to capitalize on it. Chad Lowe seems like he is lampooning John Denver on Saturday Night Live. It would be funny if he weren't trying to be serious.

I enjoyed this movie, but once again, history and chronology were ignored. Example - if you believe this movie, the song Calypso came out after the movie 'Oh God!' Actually, Calypso was a hit in the fall of 1975, 'Oh God!' was released in 1977. If you believe this movie, Annie's Song, a top ten hit from 1974 came out post 1976.

The movie also skips from 1972 straight to 1976 which omits John Denver 's peak years as a performer and hit maker.

Why don't these TV Movie makers do any real research? Because they need to get the movie out first, accuracy is secondary.

Unfortunately, TV movies are now no different than tabloid magazines.

Worth watching but don't rely on it for chronological accuracy

Based on a book, this is a very sweet movie that explores the private lives of "John Denver" Chad Lowe[brother of Rob Lowe] (Now and Again) and his wife "Annie Denver" Kristin Davis (Sex and the City). There were many things about John Denver which were emphasized in this movie. The first was that his father (an military pilot) never gave John any positive enforcement about his career in music. He wanted his son to join the military like dad did. That is how I explain his fascination with flying. It wasn't until Denver took his father for a ride in his airplane that the father finally gave him compliments and they were able to talk about the father's lack of encouragement of Denver's career. The father did not even like the fact that John adopted the stage name Denver, after the city in beautiful Colorado. The second was that John Denver was an extremely talented composer and singer, but he did not get the recognition that he deserved because his music was not mainstream and the only big record label that would sign a contract with him was RCA. The third was that the Denver's were unable to have children and adopted two kids; one was African American. This was all very good and interesting. I believe that the ratings were probably low because people tend to assume that all movies made for television are bad. Which is absolutely not true.There were some songs that we did even realize John Denver composed. Unfortunately he was more famous and much more admired abroad than he was in the U.S., and that frustrated him a lot. Favorite Scenes: Denver proposing and proposing to his wife. He drove hours just to ask her out. Favorite Quote: Denver:"far out."

After both reading and listening to John's autobiography in his own words, it's pretty clear that much of the movie is inaccurate to say the least and seemed to take on the counter story of Annie Denver. Many details were different from the book and many things left out. John was made to look 'goofy' which is not ever, at any time, the way I've ever perceived him to be. I grew up with John...I listened to his music and the words that he spoke; truth being, he was a deep, thoughtful individual who at his worst was just human. I believe too that he did accept responsibility for his own screw-ups...although that part was more closely relayed in this movie than other issues. I would love to see someone really come along a do a great mini-series on John. After all, how can you sum up this wonderful person in just a couple of hours. I have to say that I still miss him and think he was taken way too soon; and for those people who didn't care or understand who John was, all I can say is this movie isn't going to help much. Most of all, I'm sorry that you missed out on such a great person who has done more than any one person I know personally.

While this account, from a creative standpoint, could have done more justice to John Denver, the events and places as they transpired provided a fairly true-to-life story of John's legacy. Chad Lowe was seemingly unfit to play the part of John Denver, as the mannerisms and lip-sync attempts were modest at best. The shining star of the production was Kristin Davis as Annie Denver. My biggest regret is that the sequences were filmed in Canada and not in John's hometown (and mine) of Aspen, Colorado. Additionally, two hours is not nearly enough time to chronicle the beautiful life of this artist.