Hard Ground

If you are familiar with the movies that Hallmark Entertainment makes and/or distributes, you can probably guess that this particular movie misses the mark. To be fair, not everything about the movie is bad. It's always nice to see Burt Reynolds or Bruce Dern, and we get them both in the movie. They give the movie some charm and they have some good chemistry together. But not much else in the movie works. The feel of the movie is not right, from the unauthentic-looking props to the real generic locations. The bad guys in the movie are surprisingly boring, and they don't do much more than shoot people while chortling. The biggest flaw in the movie is that the movie is very uneventful, moving at a very slow pace. It feels like a half hour TV western stretched to 88 minutes. Let this one ride by.

The movie seems to be another one of Producer Robert Halmi Jr.'s "follow-up films" to his work in the legendary "Lonesome Dove" series, and, in fact, the time line of this film brings the entire Lonesome Dove era up and into the 20th Century (or just into the new century, in the year 1901).

The pursuit of Billy Bucklin aside, the movie does have a similar Lonesome Dove feel to it, especially when it comes to the unfinished relationship of John McKay and Joshua - similar to that of Woodruff Call and Newt in the first Lonesome Dove film.

However, while not directly related to the story's ending, the film does illustrate how individuals in that period of American history, similar to men like Call - and McKay and Hutchinson - were now discovering in their later years, that their feelings for the American West had become ironically similar to those of the Native Americans they helped to displace - that the wild, unclaimed vast landscape, much to their sadness or even anger, had begun to disappear into history.

Unfortunately, viewers who decided to abandon the last few minutes of this film (once the gunfire ended) missed McKay's parting words on this subject, which might give meaning to many older Americans who feel similarly when it comes to life 100 years later, in the early 21st Century...

I didn't think really good Westerns were made any more but I gave this one 9 out of 10. It's that good and, incredibly enough, it's made for TV!

A word of warning however, this film is quite violent. In fact it's the most violent film I've ever seen on the Hallmark Channel.

Burt Reynolds and Bruce Dern play friends/enemies/brothers in law as they track down and kill an extremely savage man who murders men, women and children any time he feels like it which is often. He's supported by a gang of bad guys and a corrupt Mexican general.

The film has it's share of colorful characters as well as Amy Jo Johnson for some female interest. She packs a 10 gauge double barreled shotgun.

For two big screen greats like Burt Reynolds and Bruce Dern, this was an extremely disappointing movie. Knowing this was a Hallmark film I expected more and got less than I ever thought I would. Speaking of Hallmark, this movie had all the hallmarks of a typical shoot em up, save the girl, ride off with perceived grandiose but corny parting words of wisdom, and ride into the sunset visual clichés that Westerns of the 1960's and 70's over-used. If I were Reynolds or Dern I would be ashamed to show my face after viewing this stinker. If these two actors were any younger this movie would definitely be a career sinker from which they could never rebound.

I absolutely LOVED this movie. It was a very entertaining movie, and the best western movie I've seen in a LONG time. I was pulled right in to all the awesomeness of the movie. The story line was great. Sure it had it's dull moment's, but what movie doesn't. It was SWEET! Anyone who says otherwise, just doesn't appreciate a good movie when they see one. Seth Peterson did a great job, and Burt Reynolds did as well. I would watch that movie over and over again if i could. That is definitely on my top 10 favorite movies. I recommend watching this movie cause if you are a normal person, you will LOVE it. They did a fantastic job on making this movie. The title sounds really sweet to. But I'd give it a 20 out of 10. Just cause it RULED so much. It still doesn't beat John Wayne though.