Miracle at Sage Creek

From reading previous comments it seems as though every relative, friend, and casual acquaintance of anyone even remotely connected with this movie has pulled out every superlative in the book to recommend it.

In actual fact this is a slow, plodding, uneventful film without out a single character to identify with. It has too many characters -- none of which have really been developed sufficiently for us to care about any of them -- too many stories going on at the same time, and too many clichés. Add to this continual references to God and prayer and one gets the feeling we're being not so subtly preached to.

We'd all like to see clean and wholesome family oriented movies but that doesn't mean we'll settle for substandard fare.

A fine cast is totally wasted here. Rent this film before you consider buying it. I'm betting you won't put out money to own it.

I loved the fact that this was a gritty western wrapped in a family friendly blanket that all ages can enjoy. The cowboys and the Indians blending nicely into a melting pot that was more accurate to the old west then some showings. The script was well crafted and the cast brought it all to life. I loved Wes Studi's calm turn as a kind grandfather in sharp contrast to his powerful roles as violent aggressive characters in "Dancing With Wolves" or "Last of the Mohicans." I'm excited for the two upcoming western's "The Hard Ride" and "Wild Michigan" and I think Thadd Turner deserves all the attention for making these westerns come to the screen. Tim Abell is also worth noting as a gentle yet strong "bridge" between the two worlds of the white man and the Native Americans. Carradine is on target as Ike the "Scrooge" of this Christmas Western. I think this will be a classic when looked back upon many years from now.

Can a western be too nice? Yup, as much as I hate to say it here, because this a goodhearted, good-messaged film with good people and - yes, a touch of good Christianity, the fact remains it's a dull movie for the most part.

You need some kind of edge in a western and it's not here, at least in the first half of the film. If you're boring in the first 30-60 minutes, you're going to lose them.....even in a very nice movie like this one.

In a faith-based film, as this is, I don't expect nor want profanity or gory stuff, but you have to have some action and some villains that are more than just one old man carrying a grudge and acting a bit sour, as Keith Carradine does here. That isn't enough.

However, kudos for the effort and for bringing God into a positive light in a western movie. I was glad to at least support like that with my rental money. I also appreciated seeing nice kids, a nice mom and dad, and I always enjoy seeing Wes Studi. I wish he had a bigger role in here. The acting in here was fine, too.

There are a lot of good elements to this film, but it got off to such a slow start it lost me.

This was, to put it lightly, unwatchable garbage.

My crap detector first went to orange alert when the two boys look for fire wood by sitting down and picking up the sticks in there immediate area and pile them together. This was then followed by a gun fight where people take cover behind barren shrubbery and don't get shot. Not only do they not get shot, they add in rickashay sound effects meaning that they aren't just retardedly bad shots, but the twigs are actually blocking to bullets.

Who ever directed this film should be black listed and maybe checked for Alzheimer's or blindness.

Wouldn't call this curious offering great, but won't call it bad either. It was a relief to see a small scale modern Western that didn't see the need to go down the Clint Eastwood trail of super nasty, so called cowboy 'art'....

This story concentrates more on the daily living standards of 'pioneers' than simply the rough oater types. It's main problems, regarding story, lie in the fact it doesn't properly introduce us to the characters. It's difficult at times to figure out who's who. The movie has the look of a show that may have been longer than it's final release.

The first signs of this come with some badly timed edits that don't gel with the general good look and flow of Virgil Harper's fine Cinematography. There are also several characters who tend to disappear when you are expecting them to feature much more than they do.

The location shots are a treat for the eye with vistas and grand horizons filled with majestic skies. The Director: James Inveld (Brother of Ricky Inveld who was Ricky Nelson's drummer, who also died in the same plane crash) has gone for a deliberately paced unfolding of the story, a bit like the classic 'Shane' used to such good advantage. There are odd bursts of violence that remind us that this is still an untamed land, but mostly it's content to follow the personal lives of settling families.

Acting is surprisingly good, especially David Carradine as the bigoted landowner. He is matched by Actor, Producer, Musician and Emmy winner: Daniel Quinn, a performer with solid acting training in the UK. Lovely Sarah Aldrich is also good as his wife. The youngsters do well and turn in quite convincing performances. Pity the usually interesting Michael Parks has so little to do (edited out perhaps?) Also good to see Wes Studi making an all too rare appearance, giving the picture a better balance to the Native American Indian side of the story.

The Music score: partly composed by the Director (with Michael Turner) adds some fine atmosphere to a film made by semi-professional independent producers. This won't please gung-ho action fans or those who lean towards being more technically aware, but should be enjoyed by seekers of undemanding family fare.

Interesting to note: The actor playing the nasty, gun happy, racist cavalry recruit: Thadd Turner, also holds writing, production and technical credits for this film, and is himself, a sharp shooting champion.