The Long Ride Home

The only good thing about this movie is that it got me to register on this site. The acting was atrocious...well with the exception of the horse....fortunately that animal was protected by the SPCA and therefore didn't have to deal with any of the rotten dialogue. It seemed to me that the movie was bordering on camp.

A few of the posts hailed it as a great movie due to lack of coarse language and violence. Might as well watch Mary Poppins.

It's going to be difficult to find newer westerns w/o violence, and this movie was not one. The merciless beating of the mother and her hair cut off intimated more distasteful violence than could be seen in "Open Range" or Silverado".

I expect to see this show up in something like MST3K.

This is a movie which held morality and marriage in high esteem. Those who dislike religion will dislike this movie. With that said: I watched it first before reading any of these reviews. I thought it was a very meaningful movie, though the bad guy was a bit over-the-top. (The violence could be disturbing for children, so parents should use caution.) The bible-quoting derisively mentioned by a couple reviewers was not overly-frequent. While it may be surprising that someone can remember such quotes by verse, it's not unrealistic if one is raised in a religious household. This movie held a powerful message about God's forgiveness for our sins. It also treated marriage as something more than shacking-up. If that offends anyone, I don't think the movie is to blame. I didn't give it a 10 because I thought the bad guy and the ending was a bit contrived.

My wife and I enjoyed this movie on the Westerns Channel. It deserves better than the 5.1 average rating. Some people get hung up on one aspect of a movie, for example the Bible verses being quoted, but if that's the way those people lived, the actors could not portray it any other way. Though the actors were mostly unknowns other than Stella Stevens, Randy Travis, Ernest Borgnine and Eric Roberts it was well acted. It was interesting to see Garry Marshal in a movie, I had only seen him in the Documentary of The Princess Diaries and had only seen Randy Travis in Fire Down Below. I see that Randy Travis is in several other movies and will check them out.

I really enjoyed this movie.. I think the reason Eric did not have the usual saddle on the horse is because he was riding HIS OWN horse in this film and wanted the horse to be at ease.. You could see how relaxed he was himself with the horse. It was obvious the horse was his own..The movie itself may have been a little wishy- washy but Hey I like that..And Yes they could have paired him up with someone else but what the hey... Looks aren't the be-all and end-all. It is what is inside that counts .. Doesn't anyone get that!!!!Of course I was wishing there would have been more of Eric in the movie.. I guess the star was supposed to be Randy Travis.. Whatever!!!!

Other reviewers have pointed out good and bad features of this movies, and they all have a point.

The feeling that struck me as I watched this was that it was too long.I found myself watching the clock on my DVD player to see how much longer it would last.When I find myself experiencing something like this while watching a film, it usually means the film lacks focus.I think that is true here. There are just too many subplots and unnecessary twists and turns that detract from the feeling of unity in this film. My recommendation would be that it be taken back to the editing room and severely pared down to give it the film a more distinct direction.

Some good points in the film:

• I thought the actor playing the young boy did a good job, and his scenes held my attention.

• The flirtatious scene(s) where the young lawman envies the light on the leading lady's face was touching, and she did tend to "shine" a bit more in these scenes than others -- she looked better and I thought she was more likable in these scenes.

• The overall tone of the outdoor scenes were appealing....

But I return to my main point... the film needs tighter editing....