Love Takes Wing

This is a wonderful, endearing film which appears to be the beginning of a series on Hallmark network.

While it resembles the former Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman television show of years back, we need more of this quality, heartwarming tales.

Two female doctors venture forth to the west, this time Missouri. In a rural area, they encounter a cholera epidemic as well as the usual superstitions, prejudice and viciousness of a town in believing that the orphans caused the outbreak.

82 year old Cloris Leachman is just wonderful as a dedicated woman working in the orphanage. There is also fine acting by Patrick Duffy as the conflicted mayor of the town and by director Lou Diamond Philips, who also plays a heavy in the film.

One doctor soon finds a male interest and by the end of the show, they wed. Of course, just like Dr. Quinn, they adopt Lillian, a precocious youngster caught up in the epidemic, who acts like a young Florence Nightingale.

Looking forward to the continuation of this Love series.

In the Old West, a young woman (Sarah Jones) arrives in Sikeston, Missouri, by stagecoach to take over as the town's physician. As she tries to figure out what disease is making people deathly ill, especially the kids in the orphanage, she develops a friendship with a helpful blacksmith (Jordan Bridges). Haylie Duff plays her colleague, Cloris Leachman the manager of the orphanage, Patrick Duffy the mayor and Lou Diamond Phillips a grim citizen. Lou also happens to direct.

"Love Takes Wing" (2009) had a budget of $2 million and debuted on TV (Hallmark), but it's worthy if you don't mind realistic Westerns that sneer at the Western staples of fast-draw shootouts and so forth. There are, to be expected, a couple of schmaltzy or predictable bits, but it's otherwise well-done and the drama keeps your interest.

I particularly liked the addition of intravenous therapy (aka IV), which inspired me to look up its history. I was in the hospital for several weeks years ago and was always hooked up to an IV. Now I know why. Diseases like Cholera kill through dehydrating the victim. Intravenous therapy ingeniously fixed the problem, but it's easy to take for granted now. This interesting and enlightening element took the movie to the next level for me.

Geographically, Southern Cal doesn't look anything like Missouri, but I guess it doesn't matter much since it's mostly a town-bound story. Yet the overall vibe is of the Southwest, which is a far cry from the milieu of the Show Me State.

This was the seventh film installment taken from Janette Oke's Love Comes Softly book series. It's followed by the last sequential film, Love Finds a Home, which debuted later the same year (not to mention two prequels in 2011). You don't have to see any of the other movies to view this one; it's self-contained and is the only one I've seen. Interestingly, none of the events depicted occur in the corresponding novel.

It runs 1 hour, 28 minutes, and was shot at Melody Movie Ranch in Newhall, California, which is the southern section of Santa Clarita, a 40-minute drive northwest of Los Angeles in the high country.

GRADE: B.

How does a pure red head turn into a blond? The biggest thing that bothered me during the entire film was this hair situation. Belinda was a red head on Movie 5 and 6, now she is suddenly a golden blond; it makes no sense. Further more if they were going to pick a different actress, why not pick an older actress, possibly in her thirties? Belinda has just graduated from Medical school and yet she's in her early 20's, I can easily understand why no one will take her seriously. The most disappointing thing about the movie is that the Love Come's Softly films have fallen into this annoying pattern - Woman is married. Husband dies. Woman adopts child and remarries. Orphan grows up falls in love and marries - repeat. If the films art going to follow the books properly then why can't they come up with a new story and plot line? Something new and interesting. Don't get me wrong, Love Takes Wing still has the family vibes and is a nice clean film, but the quality is very poor with cheesy lines and terrible acting.

it's actually that kind of movies you watch without being engaged in, the could be a negative point, but I see it a positive one for someone who want to watch simple light movie with good story and characters. Kevin Richardson plays the rule of some jerk here, and He did really well, and the story is about Dr. Blinda who goes to a city needing a doctor to treat a spreading flue that turns out to be Cholera. she was nice sweet looking but short tempered person who tend to judge everyone.

her friend Anne is a rich girl, understanding and kept her inline in terms of dealing with the citizens and helps her through out the process. Mr. Owen, a very gentle lovely person supporting them as well and showing a strong yet loving personality.

the movie talks about fate, believe, god and his reasons, telling the story of someone who lost his faith when he was surrounded by sorrow and hardships.

7.7 stars.

The very first of the series was an astonishingly wonderful film, but 'Love Takes Wing' is better than some, I'd say it's slightly above average in comparison to most.

The "Love..." series of almost ten movies never fails to provide a good old-fashioned inspirational feeling. They knew they had something really special, so they went with it. Good for them. I have always been entertained just enough to enjoy each and every film in the series, and I think it's because they found a recipe and they stuck with it. It's kinda like a batch of cookies. You love it when Grandma makes that same batch of chocolate chip, maybe they aren't your favorites, but they are always delightful enough with a glass of milk, and if it isn't broke...

No matter what the story, the method and the material are always consistent and authentic feeling. They use the right music and direction to create a similar atmosphere, and the acting is always decent. Look who directed it. Interesting. I like his rendition of the town loser, but they sorta left that unresolved.