Big Sky River

It wouldn't have been a movie but I kept wondering why, when she came into her step-daughter's life at least 10-12 years ago, she hadn't adopted her. But then I guess most of the drama would have to be explained in another way.

The reviewer above is incorrect. Perhaps if they'd listened carefully, and/or waited longer than 2 minutes before reviewing, the viewer would have discovered that the child in question is not the biological daughter of the main character; she's from his previous marriage.

She is a 40-something teacher who lives in New York, after some 11 or 12 years together she and her husband have a messy divorce, he has a new girlfriend, and the 13-yr-old daughter who never knew her birth mother is caught in the middle.

It is summer break so she decides to rent a house in small (fictional) town Montana, with a river nearby. She had visited there when she was growing up. Her 50-something next door neighbor happens to be the town sheriff who is widowed and has two young sons. He also has several horses and she loves horse riding.

So the story plays out, being a Hallmark movie, where the two single adults develop a mutual attraction. But the problem is she has no intention of staying in Montana, she has a teaching job and a stepdaughter in New York, and he has no intention of leaving Montana. Perhaps a good break is when the stepdaughter travels to Montana and pretty much starts to enjoy it there.

All Hallmark movies are clean and predictable, but this one is entertaining enough on a Saturday night after a steak and wine dinner. With chocolate cake for dessert, for sure. My wife and I watched it at home on DVD from our public library.

Watched this with my wife and it is a very good film. The leads do a fine job and the kids are actually good actors. Not sappy. The previous reviewer was upset that a birth mother would desert her daughter and only watched two minutes of the film. She is not her birth mother and states that right at the beginning. I suggest they try watching again and will find the film very rewarding.

I've read several of Linda Lael Miller's books and had high hopes for this one. If Vaugier had been able to show the same depth of emotion in her scenes with Smith as she did with her step-daughter, or the two sons of Smith's character, I'd have added a couple more stars.

When Vaugier and Smith are alone in the scene, she's not doing much more than reciting lines. Not so with the child actors, who do quite well in this tale, especially their scenes with Vaugier, so I suspect there was something going on there between the actors.

There's enough general conflict and tension to keep up the pace. The scenery could have been developed a bit more, but other than that slight nit-picky comment, the production values are good.