Reviews

This a sweet movie, with 3 beautiful lead characters (okay, so one of them is more handsome, to be exact) and a good dose of magic. Considerably less cheesy and much easier to watch than similar genre movies I've seen on Netflix (like Albion the Enchanted Stallion and the Secret of Moonacre). It was a little slowly paced at times, particularly with how slow and--well, not even so slow as to seem deliberate, but just weirdly slow, like he was mentally unwell--the lead villain was. But a sweet and enchanting, beautiful little film in and of itself. Yes, it does require some suspension of disbelief (it is about magic and the supernatural and mythical beings, after all), but you shouldn't sit down to watch any movie like this without being prepared to do that. It's a lovely little fairy tale movie. I also loved the intro and ending with the grandmother telling the story to the two precious, adorable little girls; as well as the heart-warming performance and hospitality of Jo Marie Payton in welcoming Cam and Elle into the house. These added quite a nice touch. I will definitely watch this film again when I'm feeling in the mood or need of a little magic and beauty. A lovely film.

One reviewer stated that the entire purpose of this film was to expose what a scam the entire "mail order bride" industry was. I completely disagree. I think the point of the movie was to explore and show the different experiences and motives of the men and women using these services, which it did quite well. Some of these men seemed to have unrealistic expectations, looking for a super model type wife even though they themselves were overweight and older, but a couple seemed very genuine and sincere in their search to connect with someone. It was disheartening to see one man who was outright scammed and misled by a woman, and two more who were likely scammed. Two of the couples do get married, and the bond between one of them is quite evident and they seemed very genuine and in love--it was cute to watch them. The nicest thing about this film is that it shows the honest perspectives of both sides and even some of the parents, and it's very nice that it follows the story for quite some time (at least a year, if not more--I didn't keep track) to show how some of the relationships didn't work out while others seemed to get better.

I'm giving this film a 3 out of 10 because of the effort which I believe must have been put forth in making this production. In a word, the film is awful. A noble attempt, but flawed and failed. It could have been worse--the costumes could have been blatantly incorrect and the acting could have been a little worse, and the dialogue perhaps even more fake. But not much worse. The main actors each have a moment or two were they finally seem to shine as actually being into the part (the actor who played Boaz was, in my opinion, the most believable in the film), but most of the time they trudge along plainly reciting their lines, seeming to only go through the motions. The plot is very plain and the acting is dry. The most basic and boring scenes are hopelessly drawn out. The dialogue seems very contrived and often downright cheesy. Perhaps if the characters seemed to actually be feeling the emotions and if they had the experience, feelings, and action to back it up, they could convey these lines believably. But they cannot. The film absolutely lacks emotion and interest. It's only redeeming factor might be the character of Boaz, whose performance (and delivery) does add a slight bit of humor among the shoot-me-now lines. Eleese Lester (playing Naomi) is also notable for having perfectly portrayed the oh-so-kind and sweet, sacrificial motherly love of her character; she actually reminds me very much of someone I know; but still we never really see the deep source of her kind spirit, and we never really connect with the inner life of her character. The voice-overs of her thoughts, perhaps meant to correct this deficit, only seem cheap and laughable. Besides this, all of the characters (and even the dialogue and plot, at times) seem very Americanized. It looks like a bunch of modern Americans trying to play the parts and act like these people from the stories they've heard, and trying to do the things that they've been told. Not good.

Besides that, the audio quality is quite poor throughout the film, particularly during the outdoor scenes. If they couldn't get quality audio to begin with, then they should have at least gone back and dubbed the dialogue in a studio afterwards; even if it had then been slightly unsynchronized, it almost certainly would have been more bearable than the final results the audience is forced to sit through. The film's photography manages to be mostly decent, except for a few sunspots (lens flare). While there can certainly be artistic purpose for sunspots, they don't do any favors here (and probably not in any other period film) as they only draw attention to fact that there is a camera there, and thus modern technology. The only appropriate place for sunspots in a film like this might be in a scenic sweep of the landscape, but as Ruth begins her journey they are very prominent and nearly covering her face as she speaks. Aside from that, the costuming seems just a little off to me, not quite authentic, but perhaps I'm wrong..

The film was certainly a noble dream by those involved, but its realization has not done it justice; this dream has not survived the journey to the waking world--at least, not without being significantly butchered.

I personally feel that the film contains only a rather shallow, stereo-typical, and one-dimensional exploration of its major themes of good vs. evil, loss of innocence, and so on. In fact, much of the film feels stereotypical--strange forest boy; silly & naive girl who does something seemingly perfectly harmless and then gets blamed for ruining everything (and who does an awful lot of crying out for Jack and seems unable to actually take care of herself very well..); and then the pack of fantasy stock characters that almost randomly appear, with little purpose other than spurring the other characters and moving the film along. The character development is quite poor, we never really see into their deeper motivations; and the opportunities to explore questions regarding the deeper nature of evil and innocence, lust, greed, hate, love, and desire are left void--the film brings these things up, only to leave them sitting there at surface level; there is so much here that could have been explored, since it really is not a black-and-white or simple issue, but the film treats these things very simply as just that--a very shallow exploration. A deep exploration could have really been the wind in the sails for this rather standard plot, and really made the film shine; but from a film whose whole premise is based on these struggles, I was definitely expecting a bit more; unfortunately, the treatment falls short of the film's lofty themes and visual imagery.

The acting itself was good, and the actors seem well cast, even if the characters were rather shallow and stereotyped. The special effects were pretty good (perhaps almost even overdone) and the photography was also good, if a bit dark and dim (in many scenes) for my taste. It's the very beautiful fairy-tale landscapes and the unicorns that really shine in this film. I give this film a 6 out of 10 for it's decent character portrayal (the actors do a good job with what they're given) and memorable imagery.

This film is very emotionally detached. In the way it is acted, the way it's told and presented, the way the audience receives and relates. You'll receive the story, but won't ever really feel any of the emotion. Perhaps this is because, as others have mentioned, the story is presented as if you were sitting around the fire, safely out of the action, being told the tale by some storyteller, with the visuals to go along. But even the facial expressions, especially of the princess, are shallow, vague, and distant. Besides that, there is very little character development, especially of King Valemon. But probably the most emotional part of the movie is at the end, when he pretends to be mean. To me, at least, this part comes off as the most "real" in all the film. So you'll learn the traditional story, but you won't really know the characters.

This movie reminds me of the Princess Bride, but is slower and more detached.