midsmack

(please keep in mind that my vote pertains to the dramatic presentation of the movie, and not my feelings about the book)

I was lucky to see a sneak preview of this movie in Kansas City. It's based off of the books by Neale Donald Walsch about a different way of looking at life, god, love, and religion. It was professionally produced by Stephen Simon, the same man who produced Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure, What Dreams May Come, and a few others about which I was less familiar. There were probably five-hundred people there at the sneak preview - I was impressed.

Good Movie! The acting and production were all well-done. The presentation of a spirituality inspired by an experience Neale had after some real down points in his life (including being homeless for about a year) was engaging and succinct, yet not too pushy (gentleness being at the core of his beliefs anyway).

I say see it. If you disagree on a religious/spiritual level, then at least it will be a way for you to confirm the beliefs you hold and why you hold them. If you find something to agree with in the movie, then perhaps it has something for you and perhaps the books (Conversations with God, Communion with God, Home with God - etc) will be a helpful tool for you. They were for me.

And finally, after the movie both Neale Walsch and Stephen Simon spoke. Both were very kind and fielded questions from the audience. Their only request was that when the movie opens on a National Level (and it will here in the next few weeks I believe), that anyone inspired or affected by the films/books do their best to inform their friends and neighbors, enemies and strangers to see the movie, and send a message in the only media Hollywood understands, the message of money, stating clearly that we as a people are tired of being fed the same formula of Sex, Violence, Fear, and Hate and wish to be shown more films about the importance of compassion and love.

Thanks for reading.

Open Range seemed immediately to be a movie that did not rush itself into a standard plotline, nor did it have standard characters. Instead it gave the audience a feeling of contentment and assuredness in the opening sequences, trusting itself to keep those watching interested without feeding them too much at once. The dialogue was quite believable and the situations in which the characters interacted were unusual both in the nature of the situations themselves and the way the characters responded to them. A good combination of humor and subtlety gave the audience the credit it deserved and allowed for better laughs and longer thoughts of deeper meaning.

I was very impressed by the camera's ability to capture the openness of the range and the west - and it gives the movie an aura of appreciation for natural beauty. If just to see the landscape, this movie is worth viewing.

The battle scenes are also very original in their realism - most westerns seem to be very cliche. I was on the tip of my seat however, throughout the gunfights of Open Range, because I felt like I was watching something that could have very well taken place.

This movie impressed me, and I think it will impress you too. Have some patience and appreciate what it has to say.