Fern Hill

This film shows just how far the "faith-based" film has come. Four 13-year old friends venture into the Rockies in search of one friend's missing father, who was lost years before while flying his airplane. Of course, there are realizations about friendship and life. Yup, it riffs heavily (and shamelessly) on STAND BY ME, even to the point of one of the characters observing that their adventure is similar to the movie. The movie also suffers from some weak writing and acting, giving it an uneven feel. Despite these factors, the film does have some powerful moments, like one of the boys pulling a gun on his mom's abusive boyfriend and ordering him out of their single-wide, or a later scene by a river, when the same boy and the boy whose father they're looking for discuss their absent fathers. There's also some great cinematography of blue Colorado skies, mountain meadows, and craggy slopes--definitely one of the film's strengths. While it lacks the punch of STAND BY ME or other such films, FERN HILL is go for one go-round.