Finding Love in Big Sky, Montana

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.

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.

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.

The story was okay. The pretty actress, while her acting was okay, had an emotionless voice, monotone, no feeling. There was no personality to speak of. The story starts with her narrating. There was no chemistry between the two leads.

The basic story was similar to many others, but the scenery was nice. I gave it a 6. No misunderstandings or big conflict, which was fine. Just nothing worth watching again.

I have to write 600 characters for this review to be published. So, hmm, did I say it was boring?

There were horses, trail riding, kids.

No empty coffee cups that I remember. I don't remember seeing any of the actors before.

There was money needed, and a loan was applied for. It was an extreme amount, which I thought was unlikely to be approved. And there was subsequent fundraising which of course came no where close to the large amount of money requested.

There were two couples who found romance.

I appears that we will be seeing fewer reviews here. I enjoy the short reviews, and rarely read a long one all the way through. If you got this far, you know I am trying to fill a character quota. Omg.

A good movie about lost love, family, friends and unified support.

Finding Love in Big Sky Montana is not a western or cowboy movie. It's a calming subtle capture of true living values that allow or towns to be remain communities and decent places to build homes.

This film could be an excellent addition to a fall and winter holidays lineup as well.

Family Perfect is the rating for this movie as it contains no sensitivities such as violence, fouls language, S, D, or smoking.

So gather around the fire or get warm blanket on cold wet day with a warm beverage and put your remote away and and enjoy this movie with everyone.