Big Sky River

She is a 40-something teacher who lives in New York, after some 11 or 12 years together she and her husband have a messy divorce, he has a new girlfriend, and the 13-yr-old daughter who never knew her birth mother is caught in the middle.

It is summer break so she decides to rent a house in small (fictional) town Montana, with a river nearby. She had visited there when she was growing up. Her 50-something next door neighbor happens to be the town sheriff who is widowed and has two young sons. He also has several horses and she loves horse riding.

So the story plays out, being a Hallmark movie, where the two single adults develop a mutual attraction. But the problem is she has no intention of staying in Montana, she has a teaching job and a stepdaughter in New York, and he has no intention of leaving Montana. Perhaps a good break is when the stepdaughter travels to Montana and pretty much starts to enjoy it there.

All Hallmark movies are clean and predictable, but this one is entertaining enough on a Saturday night after a steak and wine dinner. With chocolate cake for dessert, for sure. My wife and I watched it at home on DVD from our public library.

I truly enjoyed this movie. It moved fluidly and the stars did a fine job bringing the movie to life. This is one of Hallmark's best movies. My only comment was with Kavan Smith's horseback ride. Cowboys don't post in the saddle. Emmanuelle Vaugier really knows how to ride. It was a treat to have female stars that didn't squeal like teenage girls the way they do in so many Hallmark Movies. It was a pleasure to watch this movie and have mature actors. The children in the movie were also quite good.

All in all with the beautiful setting the music and the actors and actresses it was a satisfying entry.

A solid, realistic story with great acting, and believable chemistry between the leads. Predictable ending but an enjoyable watch! Wish Hallmark didn't add in the awkward dance scene. These seem to be written into every Hallmark movie and this one, like most of those in other Hallmark movies, includes dancing that seems out of step with the background music and just uncomfortable to watch.

I've read several of Linda Lael Miller's books and had high hopes for this one. If Vaugier had been able to show the same depth of emotion in her scenes with Smith as she did with her step-daughter, or the two sons of Smith's character, I'd have added a couple more stars.

When Vaugier and Smith are alone in the scene, she's not doing much more than reciting lines. Not so with the child actors, who do quite well in this tale, especially their scenes with Vaugier, so I suspect there was something going on there between the actors.

There's enough general conflict and tension to keep up the pace. The scenery could have been developed a bit more, but other than that slight nit-picky comment, the production values are good.

The reviewer above is incorrect. Perhaps if they'd listened carefully, and/or waited longer than 2 minutes before reviewing, the viewer would have discovered that the child in question is not the biological daughter of the main character; she's from his previous marriage.