In the movie "Big Sky River", a widower and divorced woman find love in Montana while navigating their own complicated family dynamics.
Plot summary and other info
"Tara needs to go back to Parable, Montana, the place that made her the happiest, in order to move forward after a messy divorce. Her handsome neighbor presents an unexpected twist."
Released in 2022, "Big Sky River" stars Kavan Smith and Emmanuelle Vaugier. The movie was filmed in Agassiz, British Columbia, Canada.
Warning, spoilers ahead!
My thoughts
This was so different for a Hallmark movie, but in a good way! Our lead actors are mature and dealing with very real and serious issues.
Tara is a New York City teacher, played by Emmanuelle Vaugier who escapes to Parable, Montana for the summer while trying to recover from her ugly divorce.
To complicate things further, she's trying to navigate a relationship with Erin, her 13-year-old stepdaughter who never knew her birth mother and is having a difficult time being separated (per her father's wishes) from the only mother she's ever known.
Kavan Smith plays Boone, a sheriff with two young boys who's mourning the loss of his wife.
The relationship and chemistry between Boone and Tara starts off slow and builds throughout the film. They have some deep conversations about love and loss which feels genuine.
Many times, Hallmark movies gloss over the difficulty of being a widow/widower, but this film brings it up quite often and it's beautifully handled. There's a lovely scene between Boone and his oldest son that really pulled on my heart strings.
While the overall feel of the movie is a bit heavy, there are a few funny and lighthearted moments. I especially loved Boone brushing off Tara's well meaning "be careful" before he went into her home because she thought there was an intruder.
I appreciated that the big city girl knows how to ride horses, dress appropriately, and isn't afraid of animals or getting dirty.
All of the child actors did a great job, but the actress who plays Erin was really exceptional.
The one thing that really irritated me about the movie was the constant "Do you like him?", "I think he likes you.", "Have you asked her out yet?". It was so heavy handed and felt like the writers were just trying to fill up time.
While the storyline between Tara and Boone was good, I really found myself liking the relationship between Tara and Erin more.
Final rating
This was a heavy movie and didn't have any of the fluff that's typical of most Hallmark movies. If you're looking to escape into a lighthearted world of pretend, this isn't the movie for you. That being said, I thought it was a good movie, just not one that I would want to watch over and over.
On a scale of 1 to 5, I give it a 4
What did you think of "Big Sky River"? Let me know in the comments below.
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