Far Haven

This movie begged my attention from INSP notifying me of its airing and the negative reviews on IMDB. I decided to give it a go because of the comments about the wholesome nature of the movie. Turns out a good movie can still be made with Hays code standards. A famous Psalm (22 or 23 depending on Bible translation) helps start the story. It's more a Christian friendly movie than a Christian film. The story has plenty of Western cliches and references to other genres. A scene near the end recalls a memorable town meeting scene in Hoosiers. Bailey Chase does a commendable job as the lead. Martin Kove and Don Most elevate the film with their performances. Experience is a plus in front of the camera.

How do I hate this movie, let me count the ways Stilted, hollow dialogue Flat, slow acting Boring, excruciatingly slow paced, non-existent plot Unrealistic props, well, unrealistic everything, so this one probably doesn't count That horrific blue stage coach The sequel promoting ending- surely they do not intend to make another one, or worse, a series of them 😳 That blond girl whose only contribution was a never ending sappy smile

If you enjoy westerns, maybe visit the ones made in the 1940-1960s. The 25 minutes I watched hurt. I kept thinking it was probably made in the 70s during those bad western years (you know the ones where all the actors had the 70s style hair) but nope.

I'm sorry. I wanted to like this movie. It's awful. Obviously fans, friends and family of the cast are rating it much higher than it deserves. I don't think it's the fault of the cast as all are wonderful. The material is very poorly written and I don't feel the story conveys what they described in interviews. It's too much crammed into a short film. It jumps around. It's on the level of a cheaply made for TV movie. It's a hallmark feature with a happy ending. What it's not is a western. If you really like this film go watch True Grit, The Outlaw Josey Wales, Shane then come update your review.

Granted, while I am not overly fond of Western movies in general, I do sit down every now and again to watch one, when I happen to stumble upon one. And thus, I sat down to watch the 2023 Western "Far Haven" from writers Dustin Rikert and William Shockley, as I happened to have the opportunity to watch it here in 2024.

Sure, I had never heard about "Far Haven", so I wasn't really sure what I was in for, aside from it being a Western movie. However, I have to say that the narrative in the movie was so slow paced and sluggish that the movie never had a chance. The pacing of the narrative was sleep-inducing, and I have to admit that I ended up giving up on the movie 52 minutes into the 101 minute runtime. I just wasn't entertained at all.

And it didn't help the boring narrative that the characters were about as interesting as watching grass grow. The writers really botched this one.

There were a couple of familiar faces on the cast list, with the likes of A Martinez, Martin Kove and Chris Mulkey. The acting performances were fair enough, despite the fact that the actors and actresses virtually had nothing to work with in terms of script, storyline and character gallery.

If you enjoy Westerns, then perhaps you might find something enjoyable to "Far Haven". But I sat down to watch it as a casual viewer, and not as a fan of the Western genre, so I found little of any worth in this movie. And I am not returning to attempt finish watching the movie, because I wasn't entertained by the storyline, or lack thereof, nor did I take a liking to any of the one-dimensional characters.

My rating of director Gary Wheeler's 2023 Western "Far Haven" lands on a two out of ten stars.

I loved the theme of redemption in this movie, and I loved the cast. Bailey Chase is a hottie from "Longmire" who has a great, low-key presentation in this Western setting. I also just watched him in a "Left Behind" movie, and he's got some great range. A Martinez is one of my favorite actors -- I've seen him in so many things over the years and it's always been good from him. Then there's Chris Mulkey, whom I remember from "Twin Peaks." Nice bad guy. Here, you don't really know which way he's going to go. Don Most from "Happy Days" -- that was fun to see. Everyone in the cast delivers well. The storyline has a classic Western vibe and is predictable at times, but who cares when the ending is good and the message is a positive one.