Blue Ridge

In the world of movies - especially independent movies - Blue Ridge is that rare anomaly; a film that doesn't take itself seriously enough. Whatever movie one makes, the maker must believe in his/her creation whole-heartedly, and evidently this is not the case here; some ironic (or simply dishonest) distancing of the heart at the core of this tale spoils the near-cohesive soup of ingredients 'selling' us this story of a New Sheriff with a troubled marriage in a Small Town with Trouble. The casting, acting, filmography, dialogue and music were all very good, but could not transcend this fatal flaw. The tongue-in-cheek stretches were over-extended to the point of making the climatic face-off of the primary protagonists cliche'd and unbelievable. (& BTW the over-done SFX flash of fire from his gun when the grieving Native American leader fired it in the air is jarringly unbelievable, too.) Although intelligent, the writers missed an easy opportunity to weave the theme of Thanksgiving into the storyline which would have enriched this film overall, plus make it fit into a popular market in need of refreshing alternatives to the classic Planes, Trains and Automobiles; all those lovely touches of Autumnal colour (though we were denied pumpkins - presumably because of this strange preference for neutrality of time and place) resulted in an unfulfilled seasonal promise, and missed out on a heart-warming closing scene of our heroic crime-solving Sheriff and his wife and daughter reuniting as a once-again happy family around a Thanksgiving table peopled with grateful new neighbours and friends. Too bad. Blue Ridge shoulda/coulda been a little gem, instead of a Fargo wanna-be.

Actually didnt mind the story, liked it and could be a series BUT stop the horrible back ground music !!!!! Understand the whole hartfield macoy feud fine in the Appalachian hills but again got a headache from the over the top dramatic background music.

Ooh, the movie left me wanting more! I would love to see a series come out of this. The sheriff was one that every town needs - no nonsense, smart, and a great protector. Yes, he was very manly, but gentle enough for his daughter and the lady at the end. The story line was very interesting and kept me guessing. I appreciate the lack of vulgar language and the rest of the "modern" throw ins. It was just a good clean, decent old fashion murder mystery.

Also, I totally disagree with those who said that it looked low budget. The filming was beautiful and the locations were familiar to me. I loved seeing my gorgeous blue ridge mountains!

I thought this was terrific. You absolutely believed in the feud and indeed, all the characters were totally believable. Well acted, beautiful scenery at times and yet the jarring music, which in my mind brilliantly portrayed the situation and setting, made you feel totally uneasy. This keeps you guessing right until the end. I don't care what other people rated this, I thought it was a little gem.

Melodramatic in the second half, only heightened by a score lacking all subtlety. The acting is sketchy at times, but watchable. It's a PG film, definitely aiming to be Family Friendly, so cutting it a bit of slack is in line. I didn't crack the murder case before the Sheriff did, and the outcome did make sense, so it gets an extra point from me. No need to slam it, people. I've seen much, MUCH worse.