I don't typically post comments for movies, but I had to write in about this one. After seeing a decent rating (6.2 stars on IMDb is not bad), and mostly positive reviews, includes superlative statements such as: "It could be the most powerful animal-themed film I have seen.", "Defining Family Entertainment...perhaps re-defining." and "Put it on your "must-see" list.".
We rented "All Roads Lead Home" for our family, and were put off by the overt over-the-top animal rights themes, low budget look of the film (simplistic camera work, minimal post-processing, poor editing, sub par acting) and *very* choppy plot. The story seemed contrived in parts to go out of its way to pull at emotional connections to animals, and in all but a very few scenes was ineffective at doing so.
That is not to say that this film should not be watched, or is worthless, it just seemed like from many of the comments on IMDb that this was an Oscar-quality film. I would rather people go into this with their eyes open, so I decided to post. A number of these comments appear to be written from the perspective of a personal friend of the film crew, or someone who was invited to a private screening. Hardly a unbiased source. I don't at all mean to question the integrity of those comment authors, we are all entitled to our opinion! But I did want to balance that out with a more realistic look at this film.
To realistically rate this anything higher than 5/10 stars would be quite a leap, even for someone who enjoys cheesy sappy movies. This was a cheesy sappy movie that was done poorly with a small budget.
I would not recommend this movie, and feel there are many better choices on the market when it comes to family friendly movies.
