I won a copy of this DVD a few months ago. This is what inspired me to hold Movie Review Month in March. I haven't watched more than a few minutes of any of the Love Comes Softly series or read the books by Janette Oke--though I am eager to. I'm not one to start a series in the middle, either, so I thought it would be perfect to start at the beginning.
A young Clark Davis (Wes Brown) is traveling with his childhood friend, Daniel (David Tom) to California to try their hand at finding gold. They stop at Millie's in Trinity for a hot meal. When a fight breaks out, Clark finds himself stuck in town to work off his debts.
Sheriff Holden (Jere Burns) brings him to Barlow farm, where sisters Ellen (Julie Mond) and Cassie (Abigail Mavity) are struggling to keep the farm running after their father's passing. Young Cassie is immediately taken with Clark, but Ellen only agrees to hire him as a farm hand because she has no choice. Still hurting from Jake's (David Hoflin) decision to race off to California in search of gold, Ellen isn't kind to Clark, another fortune hunter. As time goes on, however, she sees the good man he is and can't deny her attraction to him.
Not having seen any of the other movies, I can't say how this one compares to the others. I will say, I was totally captivated by Clark Davis's story, despite the sometimes stiff dialogue, the over the top mentions of faith, and the clunky ending.
Wes Brown delivered a fine performance as Clark Davis. Out of all the characters, I was drawn to him the most. Ellen is portrayed as a stubborn, obnoxious young woman who slowly opens her heart to Clark. I felt they could have eased back on her obnoxious behavior and instead played up the difficulties of running the farm and caring for her younger sister alone. Nancy McKeon was fabulous as the older and wiser woman who provides Ellen advice.
I realize this is a Christian story, but in this movie it seems they wanted to pound you over the head with it. The more subtle expressions of faith came off better than the moments when you felt like it was shoved down your throat. I love faith-based films, but when faith is added to the story through unnatural sounding dialogue it doesn't work. The subtle expressions of faith--asking Clark to Sunday services, saying grace together at suppertime, and Ellen admitting she prayed for Clark after he is injured--worked best. One thing caught me as off too. Clark says he came away from the church at some point in his life. He didn't know why. That's modern-day thinking weaving its way into a period piece. He might admit he lost his faith, but he wouldn't say he came away from the church.
Overall, I enjoyed this movie enough to wish for the rest of the Love Comes Softly series, including Love's Everlasting Courage, which is coming to DVD this May. It will be interesting to see how they compare to this prequel.
Format: AC-3, Color, Dolby, DVD, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
Language: English
Subtitles: English, Spanish Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
Aspect Ratio: 1.77:1
Number of discs: 1
Rated: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: 20th Century Fox
DVD Release Date: November 22, 2011
Run Time: 88 minutes
SRP: $14.98
I won a free copy of this DVD from a blog giveaway. I received no monetary compensation for this review.
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