There was a lot to like about this movie. The performances from Andrew McCarthy and Teri Polo were sincere, heartfelt and believable. McCarthy, in particular, played the role of a Wyoming rancher to perfection. My wife could barely believe he was the same kid that played in Pretty in Pink. Unlike many an other actor, who would play such a role as a caricature, McCarthy's performance was spot on, from start to finish.
The supporting characters were also good, especially Tyler's sister Laurie. You grew to really like all these characters through the course of the movie. The subplot about the mustangs was also pretty engaging. And, of course, you had the incredible cinematography, highlighting the beautiful scenery in that neck of the woods. Don't know if it was actually filmed in Wyoming, but it was gorgeous, wherever it was filmed.
My problem with the movie was that it was just too unbelievable. Just the initial premise was ludicrous. You're really supposed to believe that Tyler's sister is going to recruit some girl from New York City, of all places, to date her brother, and that both, sight unseen, without so much as a photograph, are going to agree to have her fly out to meet him? Sure, this movie was released in 2003, but online dating was a thing even back then. Why not have the sister do that, rather than go for some antiquated, mail-order-bride scenario? Their initial bad reactions to each other were certainly believable, given that they come from different worlds, but I never understood why she decided to stay longer, rather than get on a plane and go home. There was no credible motivation (or any motivation) offered. The two of them truly had so little in common (other than a love of wild horses, perhaps) that I really never saw them together. When they finally did decide they liked each other, there just didn't seem to be enough plot development to make that believable.
I also found it hard to believe that Tyler's former father-in-law was blaming Tyler for his daughter's death and holding onto that grudge for years. People in that part of the country don't ostracize their family members when a tragedy like that strikes. They rally around them and support them. And what was Tyler supposed to do to save his wife from dying in childbirth? Force her to get an abortion? Maybe that would be the logical conclusion for the Hollywood-based screen writers that wrote this story, but certainly not for folks in conservative Wyoming. The whole thing just didn't ring true.
And then, the last scene in the movie! Talk about straining all credulity! Tyler decides he wants to marry Jordan, so he shows up in New York City, bringing a horse, no less (no explanation of how he got a horse there from Wyoming), and he brings it inside an art gallery and offers it to Jordan as a wedding proposal! If you paid a screenwriter good money to come up with the cheesiest possible ending to a movie, you couldn't have come up with anything cheesier. And then, they kiss, and the movie is over! No explanation what happens next. Does Jordan just pack her bags and move to Wyoming, after finally achieving her dream of getting her photos displayed in a big NYC art gallery? Would she really be happy living on that ranch full time? So many loose ends left untied.
So, the movie was fairly entertaining, engaging and well acted. I just found it hard to get past the multitude of unbelievable plot elements, and that kind of ruined the movie for me.
The supporting characters were also good, especially Tyler's sister Laurie. You grew to really like all these characters through the course of the movie. The subplot about the mustangs was also pretty engaging. And, of course, you had the incredible cinematography, highlighting the beautiful scenery in that neck of the woods. Don't know if it was actually filmed in Wyoming, but it was gorgeous, wherever it was filmed.
My problem with the movie was that it was just too unbelievable. Just the initial premise was ludicrous. You're really supposed to believe that Tyler's sister is going to recruit some girl from New York City, of all places, to date her brother, and that both, sight unseen, without so much as a photograph, are going to agree to have her fly out to meet him? Sure, this movie was released in 2003, but online dating was a thing even back then. Why not have the sister do that, rather than go for some antiquated, mail-order-bride scenario? Their initial bad reactions to each other were certainly believable, given that they come from different worlds, but I never understood why she decided to stay longer, rather than get on a plane and go home. There was no credible motivation (or any motivation) offered. The two of them truly had so little in common (other than a love of wild horses, perhaps) that I really never saw them together. When they finally did decide they liked each other, there just didn't seem to be enough plot development to make that believable.
I also found it hard to believe that Tyler's former father-in-law was blaming Tyler for his daughter's death and holding onto that grudge for years. People in that part of the country don't ostracize their family members when a tragedy like that strikes. They rally around them and support them. And what was Tyler supposed to do to save his wife from dying in childbirth? Force her to get an abortion? Maybe that would be the logical conclusion for the Hollywood-based screen writers that wrote this story, but certainly not for folks in conservative Wyoming. The whole thing just didn't ring true.
And then, the last scene in the movie! Talk about straining all credulity! Tyler decides he wants to marry Jordan, so he shows up in New York City, bringing a horse, no less (no explanation of how he got a horse there from Wyoming), and he brings it inside an art gallery and offers it to Jordan as a wedding proposal! If you paid a screenwriter good money to come up with the cheesiest possible ending to a movie, you couldn't have come up with anything cheesier. And then, they kiss, and the movie is over! No explanation what happens next. Does Jordan just pack her bags and move to Wyoming, after finally achieving her dream of getting her photos displayed in a big NYC art gallery? Would she really be happy living on that ranch full time? So many loose ends left untied.
So, the movie was fairly entertaining, engaging and well acted. I just found it hard to get past the multitude of unbelievable plot elements, and that kind of ruined the movie for me.