Love's Christmas Journey

watching this made-for-TV travesty was like watching paint dry; combined with commercials, this stinker stretched out for more than three hours - hours of my life that i will never get back... with pithy writing for one of the protagonists ("I got sheriffin' to do."), and seeing Colby Chandler slip up on a western accent and wearing multitudinous freshly starched color-coordinated outfits, one has to wonder what was going through the director's mind when putting this abortive snoozefest... even worse, there was no plot resolution to the 'bad guys,' who disappeared off the storyline and the screen with not one whit of a scene adieu... two thumbs down for one of the worst xmas TV movies of 2011 - even if it featured 94-year-old Ernest Borgnine in what could very well be his last professional act

It's way too long at 171 minutes run time. The result is a lot of silly plot lines. It does, however, close out the last half hour or so with a decent and uplifting story, even if it's a little sappy.

I really wanted this movie to be more about Ellie's loss. They show the same footage twice in the first half hour or so and then they seem to forget that story until it pops up briefly again much later and disappears again.

As I said, they sprinkle juvenile plot lines in through the middle. There is an armed confrontation that is just plain stupid because a real hero would have pulled the trigger. TV heroes aren't allowed to pull the trigger even when threatened. There are other silly things as well.

Natalie Hall is inconsistent. I think she gets bogged down in the grieving widow in the early parts. I've seen Hall in a lot of things and she can seem at times like she is trying too hard to deliver her lines instead of having them come out naturally and this happens a few times later in the movie.

Greg Vaughan is stiff as Ellie's brother. Dylan Bruce is OK, but the chemistry with Hall is mild.

The villains might as well be cardboard, especially Weaver.

The rest of the acting is mixed. JoBeth Williams and Ernest Borgnine are probably the best of the lot with just about everyone else being only fair.

Christmas only peeks out of the shadows for 2/3rds of the movie or so, but then becomes the focus at the end.

I read the previous reviews and I realize why our world is in the shape that it is. What happen to dreaming a little and why does everything in the acting world have to be perfect. The purpose of the film was not really about the horrible guys in the movie, but rather the spirit that needs to brought back to all of us. I have lived a long life and this movie gave me a little hope in this difficult time in our lives. I am glad your wife made you watch the show, now stop and think about that wife and the love that you share and maybe, just maybe you will remember that it did not come with Oscar winning actors. Hallmark you did not let this person down, I enjoyed the wonderful story, it sparked the true meaning of Christmas in my heart...love and family.

I think the thing about these movies that a lot of the negative reviewers miss is that they're for people who believe in God in general and, in this instance, Christmas in particular.

Don't like either of those? Then you're going to loathe this movie. It's a Hallmark movie so anyone wanting gritty realism and hard hitting drama is obviously looking in the wrong place from the get go. But, for those of us more open to just being entertained, these films - there's a whole series of them - are pretty good. Yes, they're completely sentimental and schmaltzy, and do have a liberal sprinkling of religious moments, but that's what the series is about. In this movie's defense if you can't have schmaltz, sentimentality and religion at Christmas when *can* you have it? Personally I just suspend my disbelief for the duration; turn my central heating off, put the real fire on, hunker down with a hot chocolate and cookies and let myself be swamped in Hallmark endings for a while. At a time when the real world seems to be imploding under a tidal wave of doomsday preppers, financial Armageddon and global unrest then this is a pleasant escape for a moment. Let's face it, the real world will still be there when the credits roll, so why not go AWOL for a mere 2 hours? I won't tell on you, promise.

As far as I'm concerned I hope Hallmark Channel continues to turn Janette Oke Books into Movies! I only pray the Love Saga would go on for eternity..... These movies are Warm and Heartfelt, much like Little House on the Prairie. *Michael Landon Jr. directs a few of the episodes and beautifully. Although I do agree that some times the the acting/directing in a couple of the episodes (Love Takes Wing and Love Finds a Home) might be a tad sub par, but the message is still there and that's what matters to me. A majority of the episodes are well acted as well as executed. Much like Little House on the Prairie which I also love. *Michael Landon Jr. directs a few of the episodes and beautifully I might add. I will continue to watch till the end of time!!!!!! No matter how it's been Directed, Produced, Acted and even if it's Cheesy or Not! Janette Oke represents 'LOVE' Beautifully and Eloquently and that's what I count on and it warms my heart. :)