This film starts with great promise but sadly slows down to a near thud as it develops its plot that has far too many characters, not enough time to develop them all, and ends up as much of a let-down for the audience as it does for the characters who are struggling either to make life work or to find a life or to get over the issues of life they find blocks them from being themselves. The cast is undeniably excellent, with veterans of the New York stage coming in for rare film roles, with one true break-out performance (Megan Follows) who becomes the heart and soul of her community thanks to her tenacity and ability to rise above everything going around her. Christine Lahti is the hard working wife of Montana farmer Ray Baker, recently injured in an accident, and unable to get the usual supply of hay ready for selling. Lahti struggles to maintain her tough facade, but it soon becomes clear that she's ready to pack it all in and run away. That's where the dedication of daughter Follows comes in as she is not willing to see everything they've worked together to achieve fall apart because of an apparent mid-life crisis and lose the farm to those they owe money to.
Follows is giving a charming young leading man with Jason Gedrick who charms her with the rattle of a snake that he just killed. A little bit of the history of the community is told through the presence of his grandmother (the wonderful Jacqueline Brookes), and even more with the cameo by stage/soap actress Irene Dailey as the tired mother of Frederic Forrest, a lifelong friend of Lahti's and Baker's. Dailey, then on a break from her 20 year role as busybody matriarch Liz Matthews on "Another World", sits with a lamb in her arms as she discusses the issues her son is going through, and it made me want so much more of her and Brookes. (Ironically, the two worked together briefly when Ms. Brookes had a regular role on "AW" the previous decade). This came out during a period of film history when rural films were being made fairly regularly ("Places in the Heart", "Cross Creek", "The River", "Country") to name a few, and while it has some admirable qualities, I found it too slow moving and so overwhelmed in plot that it really didn't have a strong enough story to keep my interest.
Follows is giving a charming young leading man with Jason Gedrick who charms her with the rattle of a snake that he just killed. A little bit of the history of the community is told through the presence of his grandmother (the wonderful Jacqueline Brookes), and even more with the cameo by stage/soap actress Irene Dailey as the tired mother of Frederic Forrest, a lifelong friend of Lahti's and Baker's. Dailey, then on a break from her 20 year role as busybody matriarch Liz Matthews on "Another World", sits with a lamb in her arms as she discusses the issues her son is going through, and it made me want so much more of her and Brookes. (Ironically, the two worked together briefly when Ms. Brookes had a regular role on "AW" the previous decade). This came out during a period of film history when rural films were being made fairly regularly ("Places in the Heart", "Cross Creek", "The River", "Country") to name a few, and while it has some admirable qualities, I found it too slow moving and so overwhelmed in plot that it really didn't have a strong enough story to keep my interest.