2009-04-04
N/A
88 min
Belinda Simpson is now a doctor in a small Missouri town where an unknown plague is spreading fear and resentment amoung the townspeople. One local resident thinks the illness was spread from the town orphanage and wants to see it shut down. Belinda struggles to make sense of the disease and God's plan for the beleaguered town.
- The story of Dr. Belinda: Saving the town and the orphanage.
The seventh part in the Hallmark's 'Love Comes Softly' movie series. Yet another satisfying movie with the convincing performances. I expected this part to take place in a city, but deliberately avoiding those things from happening. One thing from this series is crystal clear, that is the women and their live struggles in the countryside.
The story continued, but as usual once again the cast has been changed as the timeline did. After the medical graduation and her husband's death, the mourning Belinda returns to the rural life. In the town where everybody panicked for the sudden deaths, blames for the orphanage. Belinda's arrive brings a new hope, so would she stand and deliver what people are expecting is the remaining story.
The movie series is reached at a different level now. Comparing this to the first, not only the cast and characters changed, but the plot as well. So far the story was narrated moving forward to the next generation and their struggle. Now with this, a new view about the society and its causes. Well, there is a romance, but less focused on it to give a chance to explore on the fresh subject.
"I wouldn't be who I was today if I hadn't grow-up the way I did."
Of all the films, the cast was the best thing happened. The women were beautiful by appearance and excellent in character display. Particularly in this, Haylie Duff filled that part, but she's only been a sidekick and I hope she will return in the next as well. Because the character Belinda became more serious and professional. Refuses to blend in with the other characters, I mean in the human emotional way, in another word the chemistry is missing.
That's not how we remember the women of this film series. They are gentle, caring and liked by the other characters around them. So, feels the change has come, but does it go on like this in the following films is the question. The old lady who runs the orphanage was the main attraction in the performance. That is also my weakness, I always fall for when I see the older people struggle in their lives. The role was small, maybe won't return in the next, but one of the best in the entire series.
We have already talked about the deaths, especially the husband's, but the movie without a little girl is also impossible. It is kind of routine, without it the narration won't proceed, because they are the one who is going to lead in the follow-up films. In this the new girl, Lillian was introduced. The girl from one of my all time and favourite children's film 'Standing Up'. It was a wonderful role, but I already began to analyse her character's field of interest, because that's what the next narration going to be.
8/10
Town-bound Western drama with good human interest
In the Old West, a young woman (Sarah Jones) arrives in Sikeston, Missouri, by stagecoach to take over as the town’s physician. As she tries to figure out what disease is making people deathly ill, especially the kids in the orphanage, she develops a friendship with a helpful blacksmith (Jordan Bridges). Haylie Duff plays her colleague, Cloris Leachman the manager of the orphanage, Patrick Duffy the mayor and Lou Diamond Phillips a grim citizen. Lou also happens to direct.
“Love Takes Wing” (2009) had a budget of $2 million and debuted on TV (Hallmark), but it’s worthy if you don’t mind realistic Westerns that sneer at the Western staples of fast-draw shootouts and so forth. There are, to be expected, a couple of schmaltzy or predictable bits, but it’s otherwise well-done and the drama keeps your interest.
I particularly liked the addition of intravenous therapy (aka IV), which inspired me to look up its history. I was in the hospital for several weeks years ago and was always hooked up to an IV. Now I know why. Diseases like Cholera kill through dehydrating the victim. Intravenous therapy ingeniously fixed the problem, but it's easy to take for granted now. This interesting and enlightening element took the movie to the next level for me.
Geographically, Southern Cal doesn’t look anything like Missouri, but I guess it doesn’t matter much since it’s mostly a town-bound story. Yet the overall vibe is of the Southwest, which is a far cry from the milieu of the Show Me State.
This was the seventh film installment taken from Janette Oke's Love Comes Softly book series. It’s followed by the last sequential film, Love Finds a Home, which debuted later the same year (not to mention two prequels in 2011). You don’t have to see any of the other movies to view this one; it’s self-contained and is the only one I’ve seen. Interestingly, none of the events depicted occur in the corresponding novel.
It runs 1 hour, 28 minutes, and was shot at Melody Movie Ranch in Newhall, California, which is the southern section of Santa Clarita, a 40-minute drive northwest of Los Angeles in the high country.
GRADE: B
