Prairie Fever

When I stumbled upon the 2008 Western movie titled "Prairie Fever", I had only noticed that the movie starred Kevin Sorbo. And that was actually the reason why I picked up the movie.

And then I saw that the movie also had Lance Henriksen and Dominique Swain on the cast list as well, and things were definitely looking all the more brighter. But there were more familiar faces on the cast list here, with the likes of Jillian Armenante, Felicia Day, Don Swayze, Michael Ensign and a couple others.

The storyline in "Prairie Fever" was adequate. Writer Steven H. Berman put together a fair enough script that proved entertaining enough for what it was. Sure, this wasn't cutting edge cinema in the Western genre, and there wasn't really a lot of classic Western elements in the storyline. Instead, you have a drama about a former sheriff who has to escort a group of women to Carson City, and the movie follows their trek across the prairie.

Well, while the storyline was adequate, I have to say that the acting performances in "Prairie Fever", and the many familiar faces on the screen, definitely helped to keep the movie afloat and kept it as a watchable movie.

The movie was struggling somewhat with a lack of proper Western atmosphere, feel and look to it. Everything was just a bit too mint condition and lacking the dirt and dust you would assume that garments would accumulate living in those conditions back in the day.

My rating of directors Stephen Bridgewater and David S. Cass Sr.'s 2008 Western "Prairie Fever" lands on a five out of ten stars.

I just finished watching this movie and I can honestly say that as of now, this "western" is at the bottom of my list of movies that I've watched this year and the bottom of my list of westerns.

I commend them for trying a "different" approach at a western (or is this just a remake?) but it simply did nothing for me. I am a Sorbo fan however, I feel that this role simply did not allow him to act the way he'd like to act even IF he's kind of bland and generic. That's what makes him Sorbo! I'm glad that other users found that this movie was "the best western" they've ever seen. Everyone is different however, when I think of westerns, I think "Dirty Harry". I was thoroughly disappointed and felt that they could have done a lot better.

From the descriptions I'd seen, I picked this up, expecting a cat and mouse game based around transporting a trio of insane women from a small town to the railhead. A horror version of 3:10 to Yuma. Instead, I got a film that seems to have been written by a committee of executives from WE, Lifetime, and the Hallmark Channel.

Neither the writing nor the acting were top notch. Though, between the two, the acting was better. The plot was fairly cookie cutter, and only the mules couldn't have seen everything coming after the first fifteen minutes.

The budget seemed on-par with an episode of Brisco County Jr, and I think they may have shared some sets. Most of the cast was unknown to me, but it was fun spotting familiar faces like Silas Weir Mitchell.

Still, I can't say it was terrible.

Probably the most famous big screen film about mail order brides is the MGM classic Westward The Women starring Robert Taylor who brought a wagon train of brides to a new western settlement. Well some marriages don't work out and in Prarie Fever Kevin Sorbo gets to return some of the brides. Sorbo gets a job to deliver Dominique Swain, Jillian Armenante, and Felicia Day back to whence they came.

Sorbo's an ex-sheriff who took to drink when he killed his own wife who was being held hostage by a bad guy. This is the only job he can get. But being an ex-sheriff he still has enemies like Don Swayze and Blake Gibbons who are looking to gun him down for the prison sentence they served courtesy of Kevin arresting them.

He's also got along for the ride Jamie Anne Allman who is fleeing her gambler husband Lance Henriksen. That proves to be the most troublesome of all.

The women seem to be suffering from some kind of psychotic breakdowns which is called Prarie Fever. The average person seems to think it's a bad adjustment to frontier life. But as we meet the women and hear their individual stories they've been stuck with some real losers for husbands.

Prarie Fever is a pleasant enough western with Kevin Sorbo showing he can play more than Hercules.

Genius Products recently made 3 made-for-TV westerns. Last night we saw "Aces N Eights" which I overrated at "1". "Prairie Fever" is light years better. This one has a reasonable plot, character development, and a situation you can get interested in. It does not have any of the idiot's delight tricks (jumparound camera work, bad editing, computer generated musical score) that wreck so many 2008 films.

17 mail-order-brides arrive out west, but not all find bliss with the rough-n-tumble men they marry. Three are headed home, and have to be taken to the railroad at Carson (City) Nevada. The alcoholic sheriff is given the job, and the journey is the story. New westerns are few and far between, so this one might fill your need.