J.L. Family Ranch

I enjoyed it! Just seeing it for the first time! What a rich cast. I think it's rather cute--especially the part played so well by Jon Voight! CAn't wait to see the sequel! I wasn't expecting "Dallas"; that was truly a powerful feature series. And in a different era. We don't even get ANY westerns anymore--if not for Kevin Kostner, once in awhile. I just don't get why so many people went out of their way to be so critical and down right mean in their reviews.

...I am always disappointed.

Hallmark used to have such wonderfully acted and written films. Apparently that group of writers has died off because everything they put out now is trivial, dull, and uninteresting with really bad acting.

"The Fish and Wildlife Service will be all over you like stink on a pig" is an example of the sparkling rhetoric you will hear. I"m all for giving work to Actors of a Certain Age (and I am of that age so I can appreciate it) but Voight and Caan show so little of their acting abilities that it's embarrassing.

And I can see taking certain liberties with continuity but this is a hot mess. And the characters are just caricatures with each one taking on the role of good guy, bad guy (villain wears a black hat, for Pete's sake), put-upon daughter, big-hearted sheriff, frisky granddaughter, ad nauseam.

Don't waste your time. Lots of better things to do!

Voight and Caan turn in convincing performances but the movie plays like a pilot for a series. Its let down a bit by details such as California plated vehicles on a "Texas" ranch which is actually in Kentucky. Its entertaining but leaves you hanging a bit since they don't actually wrap things up. I know some political wackos will have their heads explode making a rancher the hero but the story is really a family feud storyline.

I love the age range of these characters and the fact Hallmark has offered something other than a rom(com) or murder mystery, but this movie is too negative. Whilst so many tensions in one family/community is realistic, it's exhausting to watch with not enough light relief to give the movie balance early on. I gave up, for now at least.

Just felt too short for any story to actual be told. So many characters and 30-60 minutes more could have brought their stories to life rather than just introduce them and move along. What was there was brilliant and this was heading to be an 8-9 until I realised I was 1:15 through and the build to the end was coming