Finding Love in Big Sky, Montana

Hedy Nasser and Jonathan Stoddard Nathan Kehn and Raechel Wong Made this movie come alive they were so great as couples there were so much chemistry between Paisley and Josh in this movie you get your very handsome guys you're beautiful scenery the most majestic horses it's just an all-around wonderful family movie and it is also based on a book by the same name it was also filmed in Montana this is definitely a movie I would watch more than once I'm giving this movie, five stars it was definitely a very original movie don't think I've ever seen a movie out there like this one definitely not your run of the mill Hallmark movie was not boring it did keep your attention I did have one little problem with the fact that she is alone on a ranch with horses how long comes a guy and sure they were friends 15 years ago she lets him stay there and then she picks his brother up and she lets his brother stay there and would have been nice if we got to see that ranch open up to the kids but she was wanting to come but that's okay I don't know if there is a sequel to the book to make a movie.

I love Hallmark type movies and understand who they are for and how much the cost to make (Under 2 million dollars).

I can live with the short comings of a movie shot in 30 days but it all rests on the lead actors.

In this case,, it's rough.

Hedy Nasser is completely miss casted as a rancher even if we forgo the fact that she can't ride horses.

She doesn't have the charisma of someone in charge of a ranch.

She can't convey the financial difficulty that the ranch is facing.

She acts as she would be a guest afraid to speak-up on a "Dude ranch" for city people.

She can not "act" like she belongs on a ranch or near a horse.

She belongs in a "Princess story" or a "Christmas movie".

Jonathan Stoddard plays his character like if he completely depleted of testosterone.

He was way better in "Valentine's Town" and in "Baked with a Kiss".

It's rough.

On the technical side,, the cinematography is spectacular and the color grading is good (That's where the three stars I gave it come from.).

Where it all falls apart, is in the editing room.

The "ADR" (Automated Dialogue Replacement) is obvious, the music is aggressively omnipresent and and loud. The background soundtrack (children laughing) is on a 15 second loop repeating itself and it's grating to the ears.

So, here we are, left with a movie that broke the cardinal rule of the "under 2 million dollar budget" (cast) and it's rough.

Zero, I mean... zero chemistry between the actors.

The female lead was... well.. not believable. Not particularly a good fit to lead a movie, let alone a rom-com.

Meanwhile... Where's the ruggedness, the big sky energy?!errr.. in a cowboy hat? The draw of the title seemed lost here.

I know it's difficult to make a move, especially a movie with next to no budget- but this is why it's CRUCIAL to spend the money needed on a superior actor.

Production design and script issues will be more forgiven.

Okay camera work, with a propensity for golden hour shots.

Shame, it could have been something memorable.

This is a rom-com from UPTV, it's an evangelical broadcaster. The plot is at least believable and most of the the dialog is ok. I agree the two leads Nasser and Stoddard are miscast, they don't seem at ease with their roles. Nathan Kehn (Sam) and Raechel Wong (Charlie) should have been cast as the leads, they can act especially Kehn.

The location is beautiful with the snow capped hills and mountains, it reminds me of Montana and Alberta, more likely it was filmed in Canada - British Columbia or Alberta. Filming in winter with overcast skies does darken scenes, a production and cinematography problem. Limited budget so there are few characters and this may have been filmed during COVID restrictions.

I have to admit I wasn't expecting much from this movie. I'm not a huge fan of western movies and it looked boring. So it took me a few weeks after I recorded it to watch it. Then one day I needed to delete some movies, I decided to watch the first 5 minutes of it before deleting it.

I was surprised - pleasantly. I ended up watching it to the end! I thought the two lead actors gave decent performances. I liked the diverse cast. I thought the story was heartwarming.

But I think the ending was a little bit weak. There were a couple of loose ends that could have been addressed. Despite these unresolved subplots, I still thought this movie was good enough for at least a one-time viewing.