Blue Ridge Fall

There is a faint similarity between friends protecting friends films, "Blue Ridge Fall" and "A Simple Plan". While the former eventually peters out to mediocrity, the latter is "cult movie" material. "Blue Ridge Fall" starts out strong with one of the friends killing his abusive father, and the other three helping him to cover up the crime. Character development is good,and the small town Carolina atmosphere acceptable. Where the story begins to unravel is in the inept police work. No fingerprints or DNA are even hinted at being looked for. Instead the film churns on focusing on relationships and loyalty. The ending is especially weak, with justice far from served. - MERK

This movie has a great plot line and it is well written. James Rowe did a great job on creating a simple plot and such complex characters to develop one of my top favorite movies. Tom Arnolds is a great actor and this is one of his best roles ever. This movie can convey that feeling of someone who is over powered that then turns and becomes powerful. However, we see that the main character now has to face his punishment for his deed. The best part is the idea of true friendship and how these boys band together for one another. I was surprised at the length at which these boys were willing to go for one person. It is a must watch if you have friends.

"Blue Ridge Fall" is a mediocre drama featuring some solid performances, particularly Irving, which tells of four small town buddies who through a series of bad decisions end up on the wrong side of the law. Lack of character depth and development and skirting one important issue, spousal abuse, to focus on the mechanics of the four guys' relationships, this flick manages to be something less than it might have been. As the film doggedly trudges through the story with an earthy sort of honesty it loses its sense of direction and purpose ending ambiguously. An okay watch which could have been better.

Generally fairly good movie, although a few plot twists seemed contrived. The characters were well-rounded enough that I didn't mind that too much; I was interested in seeing what they would do and how they would develop as a result, so I was willing to overlook the implausibility factor here or there. I'd say it was worth it; the acting is solid and there's a lot of thoughtful interplay between the characters.

My only major objection was the ridiculous role of "Christianity" in the life of the abusive father character (Tom Arnold). Supposedly he's into the Bible and watches TV evangelists with his full attention, and uses what he thinks he's learned from this to justify mistreating his wife. Sorry, Hollywood; that's not insightful, it's just insulting. If you want to portray Christianity in a small town, why not show it across the lives of a representative proportion of the characters, letting the misunderstandings of the lone nutcase stand out against the rest? That would make for a more intelligent -- and believable -- script. (Of course, you might have to actually _understand_ Christianity for that to work. ;-)

Overall, I give it a 5. Won't change your life, but worth watching if you don't have anything better to do.

Very well made actually especially if you know or have a family member whom is autistic. Must watch especially if you grew up in the 70s-80s in North Carolina. Disagree with the other four reviewers - give this a high rating! In fact I believe this movie is an undiscovered gem. Had to watch twice to really understand all the nuances and what was going on in Aaron's head as well as how doing the right thing is nearly impossible in our police state world. Brought to mind Innocence Project, as well as small town (in)justice destroying millions of innocent lives every week in this supposed best country in the world. Especially jarring was the climax especially now as we approach 2020 and our world has just become more cruel and even more completely wrong in its meting out of justice by our so called law enforcement professionals. Chris Isaac sings one of my favorite songs of all time - so that is why I watched Blue Ridge Fall (or is it End of Innocence??????), as well as the NC setting. Strange such a great movie is so unknown, and why isn't it actually filmed in NC??? Utah? Can't find any more info on this film yet - so please help me if you have more details! Thank you all who worked on and helped with this movie - it will go down as one of my all time favorites. 8 out of 10.