All Roads Lead Home

As soon as patton oswalt made his appearance my interest started to wane because he is the biggest loser i've ever seen... also peter coyote and jason london contributed little to change my mind ... april bowlby added some needed humor but what was peter boyle doing in this flop.

I don't typically post comments for movies, but I had to write in about this one. After seeing a decent rating (6.2 stars on IMDb is not bad), and mostly positive reviews, includes superlative statements such as: "It could be the most powerful animal-themed film I have seen.", "Defining Family Entertainment...perhaps re-defining." and "Put it on your "must-see" list.".

We rented "All Roads Lead Home" for our family, and were put off by the overt over-the-top animal rights themes, low budget look of the film (simplistic camera work, minimal post-processing, poor editing, sub par acting) and *very* choppy plot. The story seemed contrived in parts to go out of its way to pull at emotional connections to animals, and in all but a very few scenes was ineffective at doing so.

That is not to say that this film should not be watched, or is worthless, it just seemed like from many of the comments on IMDb that this was an Oscar-quality film. I would rather people go into this with their eyes open, so I decided to post. A number of these comments appear to be written from the perspective of a personal friend of the film crew, or someone who was invited to a private screening. Hardly a unbiased source. I don't at all mean to question the integrity of those comment authors, we are all entitled to our opinion! But I did want to balance that out with a more realistic look at this film.

To realistically rate this anything higher than 5/10 stars would be quite a leap, even for someone who enjoys cheesy sappy movies. This was a cheesy sappy movie that was done poorly with a small budget.

I would not recommend this movie, and feel there are many better choices on the market when it comes to family friendly movies.

Posted by Mike Fry

This evening, I had the privilege of seeing a private screening of a film titled "All Roads Lead Home". The movie is a must-see for anyone who feels a connection to nonhuman life forms. It could be the most powerful animal-themed film I have seen. It features a stellar cast and a story beautifully told. Those who may shy away from a movie labeled as a "family film" will appreciate the boldness with which "All Roads Lead Home" tackles tough issues. Be clear: This film is perfectly acceptable for all members of the family. However, it is far from the cliché, formulaic sorts of "family films" one might associate with that genre. All Roads Lead Home has already begun racking up some pretty nice awards, including one for Best Feature Drama at the International Family Film Festival. It also got kudos at the Palm Beach International Film Festival and the Santa Barbara International Film Festival. In some ways, these last two mentions are extra remarkable, because family films are not typically the kinds of films that do well at film festivals. The success of THIS "family film" at these international film festivals is a testament to the broad range of appeal "All Roads Lead Home" has. Put it on your "must-see" list.

All Roads Lead Home is a great family movie everyone can enjoy. The movie will make you laugh and cry! It is a wonderful movie that you can walk away talking about and feel touched. The filming and choice of scenery was well done by Dennis Fallon and his crew. We enjoyed watching Peter Boyle in his final acting role. Peter Coyote did a wonderful job in portraying the grandfather in the movie.

The selection of actors and actresses for this film was properly chosen. The movie has a strong message for animal rights and animal welfare. The movie also shows the respect and love for all creatures small and large. I attended the preview of the movie at the Mall of America in August 2008 and thoroughly enjoyed the film along with my other 9 friends. They as well had rave reviews that there was finally a good family movie out there to be seen. Each one of us had the opportunity to meet Dennis Fallon the director in person. He answered our questions, and explained how scenes were made. This is definitely a must see family movie that can be enjoyed for years to come. I believe this is a movie in its infant steps towards the betterment of animal welfare. We are all hoping that there will be more movies similar to All Roads Lead Home that can be produced. I would highly recommend this movie to families with children 7 years and older. Anyone who has a sincere appreciation for animals will certainly enjoy this film.

The description 'family film' gets tossed around a lot. I have found that either these so called family movies are either A) animated or B) still contain language, themes, etc that aren't exactly family friendly.

All Roads Lead Home is different. It is a wonderful film that manages to be sad, happy, funny, touching, and uplifting all at once. I won't go into to too many details as I don't want to ruin the story, but the message is simple, every living thing deserves a chance.

The movie also deals with death and dying which in my opinion is a positive. It shows that death is a part of life, it isn't glossed over but it also is shown morbidly or overly traumatic.

All in all it is a great film that I highly recommend...it will make you cry, make you laugh, make you think and most importantly if you watch it with children, make you talk. There are a ton of discussion topics that are dealt with in a positive way and I think that is both important and not something we see a lot of in 'family films.' See this movie.