All the King's Horses

A film from the stables of Mark IV. Pictures based on a true story of a young married couple who's marrage is in trouble. Sandy, a Christian girl and Jack her none Christian husband soon find that an un-evenly yoked marrage do not work. Sandy wants to be the model wife, but Jack is full of self interest, spending most of his time motorcycling. Sandy is convinced that Jack doesn't care for the family anymore,Jack gets violent towards Sandy in the family home, and Sandy tries to end it all by taking an overdose. Divorce is high on Sandy's mind, but they both discover that only Christ can provide the strength and emotional healing to bring their family together again.This is a film that can only have a tremendous impact by those who view it,whether you are a Christian or not,if you are going through problems in your marrage,this is the film to see.(The film is based on:1 John,verses 1-7)I've seen this film twice, and I think it is well worth multiple viewing.

I absolutely loved this movie based on a true story. I highly recommend this to anyone thinking of getting married, getting divorced or trying to keep a marriage together in their own strength. Excellent entertainment too!

All The King's Horses is a profoundly disturbing movie, not for the reasons the filmmakers intended. It shows a support system of family and clergy that fails miserably at protecting a battered woman. Because this is a Christian movie, this makes them the good guys.

Husband Jack (Grant Goodeve) is a creep. Pure and simple. He doesn't give a hoot about his wife or sons. We have no clue why he even wanted to marry the girl Sandy; his first action is to contemptuously flatten her car tire. Their courtship montage has no chemistry. Flash forward eight years (judging by the apparent age of their oldest son). Jack has become a decent breadwinner yet hasn't matured past an adolescent fixation on motocross. He starts beating up Sandy in front of the kids for being late with dinner. Sandy is played by Dee Wallace-Stone (the mother in E.T.). Her portrayal of a disillusioned, abused wife who cannot find anyone sympathetic to her plight is touching. Too bad her character is driven not by plausible motivations but by the unbending needs of the plot formula. Her opening voice-over yearns foremost for a good Christian husband. Jack displays not even a pretense of this. How does she overlook this painfully obvious flaw? Because he is fun to play with in a barn full of straw and mud. Sandy is viscerally believable when she and Jack fight, but inexplicable when she must to pretend she loves and cares about him.

The filmmakers do a good job of showing the abuse. Punches and slaps connect. Sandy's black eyes not only look genuine but even fade realistically as days go by. Beatings escalate. Sandy turns to her parents and pastor for help. They urge her to stop being selfish and give Jack another chance. What God has joined man shall not put asunder.

This mindset (which I admittedly don't understand) seems to follow the same logic as the Divine Right of Kings: we obey monarchs because God (not strategic marriages, land grabs, or skill/luck of battlefield generals) put them into power. Similarly, if two people manage to get married, God must have sanctioned it. Whatever happens subsequently has a purpose. Never mind that fallible (sometimes deceptive) men and women are their own matchmakers.

Sandy's existence becomes more nightmarish, Jack never showing the slightest indication he will change. Even Sandy's divorce lawyer stands in her way. We begin to doubt this could end well. But it's a Christian movie, so it somehow must. Will Sandy exact retribution on Jack, thereby becoming the villain? Will Jack kill Sandy, and will she find herself at the Pearly Gates rewarded for never divorcing the bum? Will Jack die on his motorcycle and eliminate such hard choices? Or maybe, just maybe, could Jack undergo a total personality U-turn and accept Jesus? One thing is certain: Sandy cannot correct her mistake, get a divorce and raise her sons happily ever after. Not an option.

Just before this movie began, the female protagonist clearly escaped from an underground cult she spent most of her life in and has no idea how the world works. What follows is a toxic relationship full of one red flag after another. Movies like this are excellent examples of why the women's rights movement exists...

I thought, I'd just get a good laugh out of another corny movie, and boy was I horrified to discover that I had made a terrible mistake.

let me summarize the movie for you.. You're spouse hit you, it your fault. thee end. This abuse propaganda film, deserves to be lost in the dust bin of history.