Movie Review

Movie Review: Peace River: God, Country, & the Cowboy Way

/ kellyfbarr / 1 Comment

It’s been a long time since I’ve shared a movie review here on my blog. I subscribe to Great American Pure Flix to stream and watch family oriented and faith based films. Great American Family merged with Pure Flix on June 15, 2023, and though, Sony also is part of the company, I decided to subscribe on June 18, 2023. I used to subscribe to Pure Flix, but when David A. R. White and his wife, Andrea Logan White, who starred in many of the Pure Flix films and had something to do with running the company, decided to divorce, I noticed that quite a few movies Pure Flix began to offer were no longer as family friendly nor faith based, so I canceled my subscription.

So, when I found Great American Family Pure Flix and found that Candace Cameron Bure has a say in what they offer, after leaving the Hallmark movies because they began to offer themes that went against her beliefs, I decided to check out the Great American Family Pureflix offerings. I liked what I saw and subscribed and have been happy with all the movies I’ve watched on that streaming service so far.

So, now for my review of Peaceful River:

Peaceful River is the story of Casey, who comes from four generations of cowboys and military men. He grew up with a Mexican girl named Maria, and when he decided to enlist in the military after high school, he asked her if she’d wait for him. However, he participated in a high school rodeo, after which, he made some bad choices. Then he enlisted in the military and trained for special forces. He led a team of four other men in an operation in Afghanistan after the 9-11 attacks on the United States. When Casey finally came home, it seemed that he had lost everything that had meant anything to him.

I really liked this movie. I liked the way the characters developed throughout the movie. This movie was character driven and I came to care for the characters and wanted to see them succeed and obtain their dreams.

The war scenes were not gory, but they were definitely realistic and matched all that I had learned about the war in Afghanistan.

This movie gripped my emotions. Sometimes I smiled. Once or twice I lauged out loud. I also cringed and flinched at some scenes, and I shed quite a few tears.

I always say that books and movies that evoke so many emotions — emotions that make me both laugh and cry — are the books and movies I like most. They are also the books and movies I remember best and for the longest period of time.

I usually only need one tissue for books and movies that make me cry. It’s rare that I need more than one tissue, but Peaceful River was a two tissue movie for me.

I highly recommend Peaceful River for anyone who loves cowboy movies and movies that evoke lots of emotion. Peaceful River also teaches some great lessons in a strong, direct, but gentle way.

This movie is rated PG-13 for its adult themes. However, it is a clean movie, and as I said, it’s not graphic nor gory, and the Christian life and faith are woven throughout the story.

The Shack (Movie Review)

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I read The Shack by William P. Young in 2008, not long after it came out. Lots of people were reading it and then the controversy began — people calling it heretical, unbiblical, etc. I reread it about six years ago when my oldest son asked me to read it with him.

I liked the book and people can call it heretical, unbiblical or anything else they want to call it, and they can criticize it all they want and I will still like the book.

Now my husband and I saw the movie about a week and a half ago, and I like the movie too. I think the movie did a pretty good job of staying true to the book, but two things I think were brought out even stronger in the movie were (1) how judgmental people are about even the smallest things, and (2) the message of the need for and power of forgiveness.

Now I will tell you why I like both the movie and the book and don’t find it heretical or unbiblical, etc. People tend to put God in a box, but if we really believe what we read in the Bible, have experienced or witnessed miracles, and have seen the power of prayer in action, we should know that God has infinitely more power than we give Him credit for.

One of the biggest issues people have with The Shack is that God is portrayed as a black woman. Unfortunately, I don’t think this was explained well in the book. However, I did some research on William P. Young after reading The Shack the first time when all the controversy was at its peak and learned that he had been abused as a child, and the one person he could trust and who took care of him was a black woman. In the movie, they showed the main character, Mack, remembering his childhood and his father abusing him. Then when he faced tragedy in the movie and he was in The Shack with God, God appeared to him as a black woman because “you aren’t ready for a heavenly father yet”.

As someone who was rejected and abandoned by my birth father and mentally and emotionally abused by my stepfather, I completely understand this. I had faith in God for a long time and have always been a praying woman. However, it took me years to accept that God is a loving heavenly father who loved me unconditionally.

Besides, didn’t God appear to people in the Old Testament in different forms? He appeared to Moses in a burning bush. He also appeared as a pillar of cloud and as a blinding light.

I am just as guilty as anyone else for sometimes putting God in a box, but when I really consider the power of my God, I know that He is infinitely more than I can imagine, and therefore, I believe He can present himself to those who need Him in any form He thinks best.

 

 

A Monday Movie Review

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I don’t usually post about movies here, and this is my review of a movie that’s been out for some time.  You see, we saw this movie yesterday at some friends’ house, and I was disturbed by the movie and feel the need to share.

I have heard many people rave about this movie.  It’s supposed to be a kids’ movie, but it’s rated PG.  It’s the first Pixar film I didn’t really care for.  It’s “Big Hero Six”.

If you haven’t seen the movie yet and are thinking about seeing it, you might not want to read any farther, as there will be spoilers in the rest of this post.

What did I find so disturbing?  Hero is the main character.  He and his brother live with their aunt because their parents died some time ago.  Then Hero’s brother dies in an explosion and Hero is right there to witness it.  I found this very disturbing as an adult, let alone for a child.

Hero finds that his brother’s robot was in their home and he makes a new program for the robot because he wants it to help him find and catch the guy who is responsible for the explosion that killed his brother.  Four of his brother’s friends also get involved.

Long story short, Hero enters into a time warp type thing to rescue the daughter, of the bad guy, who is got stuck in there and the robot sensed that she was in there.  The robot goes in with him and then the robot has to be left behind in order for Hero and the girl to get out in time.  So, yet another loss for Hero.  Yet, the bad guy gets his daughter back, even though he’s going to jail.

In the end, Hero finds that in the robot’s hand, (the only thing that he has left of the robot), is the original program his brother designed for the robot, so he is able to recreate another robot.  That’s supposed to be the happy ending.

Why do I find this movie so disturbing?  Because I have three adopted children who suffered neglect, rejection and abandonment in their pasts.  A child like that watching a movie like “Big Hero Six” may suffer those feelings anew watching the loss that Hero went through.  If I had known what the movie was like, I wouldn’t have allowed our youngest to watch it.  He’s a very sensitive child as so as it is.  However, because we did watch it, I did speak with him about it, and he seems to be fine.

On the other hand, there was also another child present who has suffered a lot of loss in his/her life and is going through struggles with grieving some of those losses right now, and I can’t help but wonder if it was wise for that child to see it, although the parents said that the child had seen it before.

So, I know that most people would think nothing of watching this movie with their children, but being the mom of children with hurtful pasts makes me much more aware and sensitive to things that could be a problem for them.  We’ve experienced upsets with two of our three children, in the past, over movies we sat down to watch with them that we thought would be okay, so we can’t always even be sure of what may or may not upset them, but it certainly makes me more careful.

My older two sons had no problem with the movie and thought that I was over reacting because Hero still was able to have the robot and he had his brother’s friends, to which I said, “Yeah, but they weren’t family.”  I don’t think I’m over reacting because  I don’t believe we can be too careful with the tender, sensitive hearts and spirits of our children.

One of my favorite movies to watch with my children is “Lilo and Stitch”.  It has a wonderful message for children with hurtful backgrounds and/or behavioral issues.

Have you ever seen a movie you found disturbing that everyone thought was a great movie for kids?   Do you know of any movies that have a good message for children who have had hurtful pasts?