Hope's Legacy

What a terrible film. The acting is contrived, even forced at times. The writing is deplorable and downright unrealistic. From the opening scene, the viewer is asked to take in major life changes all at once. The horses were beautiful but the jumping was elemental.

Even aspects like lighting and wardrobe leave you wondering how experienced the directors were. Of course the ending is typical; which I wouldn't have minded if the story line had led to any kind of climax.

This has to be a low-budget film, as the major events are attended by about 10 people. The orchestration and music saved the day, but lush strings, and crescendos left you wondering "why:? Don't waste your time on this film. Go watch a real horse movie - like Snowman or Sea Biscuit, even War Horse.

Besides pretty bad acting and they often didn't even know their lines, Glandma Linda was such a bad actress- so I had to look her up because I thought she must've been a famous competitive horse rider, but when I looked her up and realize she was at one time a great actress, I just couldn't believe it! She was definitely passed her prime here. Lizzi is completely irrational. She bounces from one frame of mind to another. I guess that's what another reviewer meant by saying she acted like it was her time of the month all the time. I appreciate that they valued the importance of marriage. The in-laws were awful when they first appeared - way overkill with their opinions.

This film is not an Academy Award winning production and in particular, I found the script had holes and the 'enemy bad girl' was a little too stereotped however there was a lot of memorable themes such as; redemption, finding your place in the world, taking risks, finding 'your people',doing what it takes to move on from the past believe in yourself and others, and manage an effective adult partner relationship. Little improvements and tweaks would have helped elevate it but this DBM film leaves an impressive mark and I will be looking out for more of their productions.

I really struggled to get through it. Mostly because the lead character, Lizzie seemed to have her monthly through the whole film. Way to much drama queen pms. It took so much away from the others. Especially her boyfriend and the little girl and the great Dyan Cannon who spent the whole film trying to make her feel better.

I wanted to feel good at the end but all I was hoping is that they would just leave her and all her self pity. I just kept thinking that poor guy.

The story line was nice, but the forced smiles and emotionless dialog really ruined it for me. Simply put, the acting just wasn't believable. 6 stars is very generous.