The High Country

This is actually one of my favorite movies. No, it isn't some epic blockbuster, no it doesn't have Oscar grade acting (though I think Linda Purl does an excellent job of portraying the female lead). It is just a fun, feel good sort of a movie. I have seen it something like three or four times, which is unusual for me, I rarely see a movie more than once.

One of the other comments here mentions something to the effect of "there is too much hiking". I didn't really notice all the hiking. The story unfolds during this time and gives a chance for the relationship between Bottom's character and Purl's to develop. Again, if you are looking for "high art" film-making (which I personally find deadly dull), look elsewhere. If you go to the movies to be entertained, then this is worth seeing.

This film succeeds very well as a somewhat corny "feel good" movie. Purl is particularly good in an understated way. If you are at all into "feel good" movies this one will definitely leave you with that warm fuzzy feeling.

Before there was Continental Divide, there was The High Country. Both the underrated Timothy Bottoms and Linda Purl are exceptional as a convict and a "handicapped" girl who flee from civilization to the mountains. I'm a sucker for movies that focus on just the two people falling in love - and it is even better when they are isolated. A truly touching love story. Not at all sentimental. No Aunt Jemima or Mrs. Butterworth's here, Ladies and Gents.

An escaped convict teams up with a Peter Pan-obsessed, hitchhiking girl who suffers from social problems on the road and together they trek into the 'High Country' to get away from their respective problems. But with the police on their trail and the J M Barrie lovin' lady's overprotective father close behind, can their newfound relationship last?

There IS such a thing as being too lovable, and Linda Purl proves it as she jumps around the mountain like a chipmunk on acid. Her constant chirpiness is so irritating we really feel for poor Timothy Bottoms, who is forced to shack up with her after he is shot in his retreat from the law. How he ends up falling head over heels in love at the end after finding her annoying for most of the movie (even agreeing to go back to prison for her) is beyond me, but that's Hollywood for ya..

Another thing is her so-called disability.. she says in the finale she has made 'great progress' in her behaviour, but she is EXACTLY the same twee individual that she is at the beginning. Also, it doesn't specify what her condition is.. I would suggest a particularly immature 8 year old kid stuck in an adult's body. She needs therapy, not for her so-called dedicated daddy to accept her tryst with a marijuana smuggler about a decade and a half her senior. Funny how it takes his daughter to fake suicide to get papa to 'come to his senses'. Alarm bells anyone?

Plus points? The scenery is spectacular, and there are some nice little moments, such as a helpless Bottoms being spoon-fed soup in bed or Purl's smackdown of a handglider who tries to get fresh with her. But overall, the clichéd nature of the material and the long patches of nothing overcome it, and you're left with a bit of a waste of time. Plus don't hang around for the credits, or you may just hear the worst song EVER. You have been warned.. 4/10

An escaped convict and a learning disabled woman meet under the most outrageous of circumstances. They go to a cabin in the woods and "play house". He yells at her a lot and holds a knife to her throat. Aww...how touching.

The real excitement comes when they grab some camping gear and hike and hike and hike until finally...they hike some more. They do their best to bore the viewer into a coma. It works. I won't ruin the dull ending for you just in case you have a desire to torture yourself by watching this film. 1/10