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I started this movie not quite sure if I'd finish. The cover photo looked a bit ... hokey to me and the trailer didn't quite reveal whether it would be roll-the-eyes or good. I was pleasantly surprised. While the opening scenes focus on a couple the bulk of the movie really isn't so much about a relationship as it is about life.

I concur with the sentiment one of the characters expressed "there are no coincidences" yet personally I strongly dislike fiction that transforms everything into a complete implausible fairy land. This movie did a great job of weaving in lives and connections for a reason yet without tying up every stray end in an impossible way. The plot worked.

The leads played their roles well and came across authentic to me. The main female lead had her obvious character flaws which I appreciated.

We all have a spiritual journey and hopefully learn truth through what we live, including what we suffer. The gems of wisdom from older characters were especially nice and without giving the story line away I left this movie mulling over one such comment about opening up our hands to receive, and to learn in the long waiting periods of life when we do not yet have or see that for which we long. For me, a movie that conveys compelling truth in a delightful and engaging way is worth 9 stars.

Peace River weaves a story about a young man growing up on a ranch with his Grandpa through his childhood, teens and then into adulthood. The Grandpa figure exudes care, wisdom, tact & love as he tries to raise his grandson who is missing a father.

The movie shone when it highlighted the 5 young soldiers, their backgrounds, courage, passion to serve in the military. Whatever one's views on the US involvement in the middle east post 9/11 one can admire the character of people willing to go into danger out of a desire to protect and defend. Especially poignant moment when a solider genuinely asks for mercy for the enemy they are getting ready to encounter.

The movie also did a great job highlighting the very real trauma of PTSD after combat. Even if one has never experienced PTSD, many if not most of us have fallen into a pit of depression or dispair or addiction or seen someone very close to us struggle.

I appreciated the themes of working through pain & infidelity and forgiveness. However, I couldn't resonate with the main female lead's prolonged bitterness and self-righteous. Yes, infidelity hurts and breaks trust on a very deep level. It just felt strange to me that over a single one-night drunken teenage indiscretion when they were not married, despite being close their entire lives, she severs ties completely and refuses to forgive for years on end? I realize people are bitter over far less, but if she was such a good lifelong friend who genuinely loved him this just didn't add up for me. It would have made more sense to me if we saw her working through messy attempts at forgiveness (and perhaps having to deal with faltering trust and not sure how much or how little t) rather than just dramatically cutting off all ties.

In the real world, EVERYONE falls short. I'm not saying infidelity should be taken lightly. But to expect that another human is going to always in every way be perfect is unrealistic and unhealthy. To punish someone for years and years for a single act, however horrible, should cause us to wonder if the "innocent" person has genuine love. Love forgives.

In this storyline, there is forgiveness... eventually. All-in-all a solid movie with a good message and some tear-jerking scenes.

Stumbled across this show that follows EMTs, the trailer looked interesting so I gave it a watch. Glad I did!

The main character Dani is a 20-something trying to find her way both career-wise and generally in life. She finds herself as a "rookie" competing with other young paramedics for a spot on the rescue squad. That said, I felt the show's appeal is to a much broader age audience. The feelings of trying to prove oneself, to deal with parental expectations as an adult, to find a fit in a new work environment, to aim for perfection and then figure out how to deal with a major mistake are all relatable no matter what the age.

While there were hints of tough issues (workplace stressors, alcoholism, marital strain, difficult family relationships) on the whole very clean, something one could actually watch without the wholly unnecessary junk that plagues far too much media out there. And it wasn't just avoiding the bad, but including positive in a way that was uplifting and encouraging. I found myself after watching the 2nd episode considering how I deal with mistakes made in my profession.

This starts well, and while the drunkeness and arbitrary cruelty of the historical King Xerxes are all but absent, I don't fault the script writer for exploring a more sensitive side of the king, or even turning what was likely more forced sex than romance into a romance. Who knows, maybe the king despite his harem truly cared for Esther and spoke tenderly to her - after all he did make her queen.

The display of Hadassah / Esther goes well ... at first. One can imagine her character from the way Hagaii favored her. And the interactions between Haman and the princes closest to the king full of plotting and such one can imagine.

The repeated instances of male characters sneaking into the palace close enough to the queen to touch her were totally absurd -(this happened at least 3 or 4 times in the story) that would have been a death knell for sure, there is no way a king who kept his harem under lock and key and who literally emasculated anyone who was going to approach his women would have ever had such loose palace security. Nor would any male in the Persian culture have dared to be found alone with the queen without immediate risk to his life. I found those parts of the script that ignored these realities hard to accept.

All of the above I might have been able to overlook, however. What loses significant points for me though were the deviations from the historical true story. At least a half dozen serious deviations from the true story without any reason for such. Among these: In truth, 1- there was no secret dialogue between Haman and Esther. 2 - The king was never informed that the "certain people" were Jews at the start. 3 - Haman was not disgusted with the invite to the private banquet, he was elated (read the historical account). 4 - Haman's sons were likely all adults. 5 - Esther did not make a sudden trip the following day after being encouraged to go before the king as we know she and all the Jews in the city fasted 3 full days before she went to the king. 6 - Moreover there were 2 banquets instead of one (with the implication in the historical account that the king was drunk at the first and that prudence dictated a second banquet when he was in a better position to hear the somber plea for life). 7 - And when Esther revealed her true identity, there was no hokey "do you see the stars" instead she plainly pointed out Haman had plotted and the king got up in a rage after the discovery that his close advisor had plotted and secured the king's consent to something that unknowingly would kill the queen.

While I appreciate the effort, it could have been so much better if it actually told the story. I cannot see any benefit from changing the true elements. I'll give some stars for an overall attempt to tell a true story and honor the One who caused a great victory. But this doesn't get a passing score with so many deviations from the true story. Fill in the unknown details as you may but don't change what we know to be true about a story.

I expected a halfway decent, clean comedy but was pleasantly surprised at how well done this movie really was.

The movie takes a light-hearted look at a subject that nearly all of our lives involve and some of our lives revolve around - money. The way it does so though is superb.

Really enjoyed the acting and thought the leads playing the teen roles conveyed all of the awkwardness of teen years very well. Great blend of enthusiasm, blunders, etc. The movie tiptoed into teenage roll-the-eyes humor, but it wasn't overdone, was clean and our laughter was genuine. One or two periphery characters seemed a tad exaggerated until I considered some real life people I know in such circumstances and considered that they really weren't too over-the-top after all.

It is very rare to find a movie that takes a light, humorous approach but manages to do so while maintaining a solid base and thought-provoking message. It is even rarer to find a movie with a surprise twist that you don't see coming. I generally do not re-watch movies but put this on my list to re-watch and enjoyed it just as much the second go-round.

I watched with all adults and we thoroughly enjoyed it. For parents hyper concerned about violent acts and screening for same, there is a single scene with a punch thrown but in no way glorifies violence. Very positive messages throughout. I think it would be perfect to watch with kids/teens.

The US population has a million plus people incarcerated in any given year. The fact of the matter is that each of these million people are a part of a family and those released after serving time somehow have to navigate reconnecting with society, individuals and relatives. Victims of crimes and their family members must chose whether to let bitterness destroy or whether to forgive and heal. And the rest whose families and lives have never been impacted by serious crime still have to come to grips with forgiving those whose actions have inflicted pain and loss.

Birdie did a great job of showcasing one man's journey to reconnect with his daughter. Strong lead characters. The messages of forgiveness, redemption and reconciliation were strong, but this movie realistically portrayed the struggle also.

Though the strongest emphasis was on family relationships and most significantly the father/daughter relationship I thought this movie also did a great job of highlighting strong sibling bonds, pulls towards destructive addictions, judgmental attitudes and the like.

Well done, definitely worth the time to watch.

Every one of us ... INCLUDING the most jaded of us who bash any genuine display of tenderness or love... need to know we matter.

Tulsa beautifully displays this truth in the package of a wise-beyond-her-years little girl named -- as you might guess --- Tulsa. As we learn in the trailer and opening scenes (so I don't view it as a spoiler), a little girl in foster care comes into the life of a hardened man beaten down by life who doesn't see himself as a father.

With a mix of optimism and a "been-round-the-block" sass the star character has a genuinely lovely blend of kindness and spunk. The young actress superbly played the role. The main male character also played his part extremely well.

There were 1 or 2 periphery characters who didn't really resonate with me (meaning I felt they didn't really seem to portray their characters true-to-life). But these were so minor that it didn't for me affect the overall excellence of the movie.

As far as reviewers who condemn the movie as "proselytizing", perhaps it is worth considering what about the sincere faith of a child or the faith rejection or acceptance of a wounded adult makes you uncomfortable? If this movie doesn't budge your inner directional marker one bit then why do you deem it trying to convert you to anything? I didn't find it preachy at all. It did challenge me a bit to reflect whether I have the same genuine care and compassion the child portrayed.

Overall, excellent, very well done movie. The sweetness of the movie was like a subtle taste of honey - it accentuated the movie and left you wanting more rather than drowning in too-much-sweet.

For a bit of context, I like compelling tales that display a bit of tenderness but cannot stand an overly cliche, fairy-tale fake, too-romantic or try-too-hard-to-convince dramas. Tulsa was in my view a wonderful, engaging, in some spots surprising story line, executed very well. The "lows" were low enough to be realistic without going into unnecessary gore/violence, etc. If you're on the fence about this movie, I say go for it.

Taking a Biblical character's life and retelling the lessons and truth in a modern setting has challenged many. This version really hit the nail on the head. It didn't pretend to be the original story but did a stellar job conveying the essence of the original themes.

Cast portraying Joe's wife, daughters and sons each conveyed convincing emotion and depth of character and I thought they all did an excellent job.

MINOR SPOILERS - The actor playing the lead of Joe Patterson gave a generally solid performance but I felt it was missing something - whether more development at the beginning of the story to show he was genuinely caring or conveying this in emotion or something. Opening on the scene of getting an award for helping people didn't help me unless it was prefaced with some evidence in interactions w/ say the vulnerable, the poor, etc.

The plot I felt was very well written. The tragedies felt both "real" and close enough to elements of what Job actually suffered (loss of children, loss of wealth) while the means for these losses were the types of things that happen every day in our world.

The end was beautiful and while it wasn't exactly what I expected I think it was even better.

Both female leads were excellent in their roles and for a modern twist on an old classic I'd give 9/10 (though I'd rate the whole movie a 6/10). Williams fabulously portrayed the older sister in this movie - very credible depiction of a sensible sibling who tries hard to make everything work. Similarly, Sokoloff managed to pull off a very tough job of making a romance obsessed character likable.

I thought the fall from wealth to the working class was well done. That said, in both Austen's book and this work, the family hardly experiences complete loss nor does the foray into say "working class" or "middle class" really depict the toughness of life for the overwhelming majority of the world.

Definitely appreciated a clean movie (no unnecessary violence, obscenity, vulgarity, etc.)

I'd rate the entire movie middle-of-the-road though (despite the excellent acting of the 2 leads) for a few reasons. First, most of the side characters seemed one-dimensional and over-the-top. Second, though I greatly appreciated the focus on family ties and delving into the foundations of relationships I don't know exactly what the take-away message is from either Austen's book or this movie. Sure, note that we could take either an emotional or sensible approach to finding a life mate. But beyond that what is the main message? Even if you develop really shallow relationships and don't try to understand why, it might just all work out in the next connection? Put your effort on re-claiming lost prestige and status? That might be too harsh for die hard fans of Austen but to me the message of a movie is what carries most weight and I couldn't quite decipher what that message was.

Excellent portrayal of the amazingly good and extraordinarily hard things of this life.

The Reason wasn't ashamed to go to hard places... and if you've lived long enough to read this review I'd guess you've had perplexing circumstances and seen bad things seem to happen to good people.

Cast was superb. I so appreciated that this movie portrayed hope yet did so without going to the unrealistic places that some dramas do. Tackled the age old question "where is God when...?" with sensitivity in a compelling way that rang true. It also avoided the extreme and false premises of either a perspective that no miracles exist or a perspective that if we but ask (or claim) in the right way we always get everything we wish for in this life.

Lots of great lines. If you like me read reviews before watching a movie and are on the fence about this one, just watch it!

A sobering movie. Intense, but in a good way. I thought all the main characters were well developed and the plot, while largely predictable, was still very good.

I check reviews before watching movies and some prior reviews had me hesitating, particularly as some reviewers criticized the actors as unlikable and the decisions as unrealistic. I disagree with those assessments and I'm glad that I watched regardless. The characters, both primary (Lead, his wife and child) and secondary roles (there were many), seemed to me to act in ways very true to ways real people act in major crisis. Both the individual characters and the crowds responded how I would imagine people would respond. Without giving anything away there was certainly a mix of bad and good. For those criticizing "entitlement" (I saw several such reviews) there is some merit to this (meaning not everyone had "equal" chances) but from my perspective if a movie makes us think about that, and more importantly whether we'd be willing to give up our rights for another, it is a good thing.

One could hardly imagine a global catastrophe movie without special effects. For me, special effects only work when they seem plausible and the ones in Greenland seemed plausible given the premise.

But what I particularly appreciated was the message that Greenland drove home -- and one we would do well to ponder. What really matters? We live in a world obsessed with a lot of things that don't matter (our houses, our cars, our social media, our bank accounts, our appearance, etc.). For most of our lives, most of us go about blindly focused on all these superficial things.

We may not face a "Greenland" type depicted event in our lifetimes (though I think it possible) but we all will face death. I also believe that our earth will one day be destroyed (exactly how or when I don't know and I'll let others take their stab at guessing though I am very skeptical of people who claim to have it all figured out).

For those who've read this far, I would highly recommend reading the true (not fictional) book of Revelation in the Bible which relates that one day this earth will indeed burn up - reading and taking it to heart will prepare for whatever may come far better than anything else possibly could.

On a final, personal note, this movie challenged me to forgive a family member --- and if a single real life is moved towards love and forgiveness as a result of a movie it seems to me to warrant top stars.

The drama was moving. Hard not to tear up at a few scenes. The story follows the latter years of the real - life character Eric Liddlel (Liddell?), the world-famous Olympian runner many know by the "Chariots of Fire" movie. After winning the gold for his native Scotland, he gave up fame/fortune to move to the China he was born in to serve there.

Eric Liddel was an amazing man and I've read several books on him. He stands out not only for his athletic feats but for his exemplary character. He truly lived to serve and had a rare humility, especially rare given the fact that he accomplished feats that earned world recognition. For conveying a remarkable and humble man, I'd give the story 10/10.

Where this fell short for me was more in what this DIDN'T show - it was as if some one took the core of who Eric Liddel was and shoved that to the side, focusing on some of the externals but missing almost entirely what motivated this great man. Yes, Eric was humble, yes, he was self-sacrificing, yes he cared deeply for others. But when one reads about him, one gets the very strong sense that Eric's humility, self-sacrificing character and deep care all stemmed from his knowledge of One with even greater humility, self-sacrifice and love. This movie in my view only gave the barest glance at Eric's faith rendering it mostly rituals.

Again, the drama was moving and it is worth seeing,but hopefully spurs one to probe deeper into the life and motivation of the man it depicts.