Movie Review: Highway to Heaven (Lifetime, 2021)

 

In 2021, Lifetime aired a television movie based on Michael Landon's 1980s hit, Highway to Heaven. Based upon the write-up, it appears this was intended to be a movie series, but for whatever reason that didn't happen. Christopher Landon was one of the writers, and Cindy Landon and Wayne Lepoff signed on as executive producers on behalf of Michael Landon's estate (Lifetime). Last night, I ordered this Highway to Heaven movie from Amazon Prime Video to see what it was all about.

Angela Stewart (Jill Scott) plays an angel sent to earth portraying a junior high school guidance counselor. Here, she meets Principal Bruce Banks (Barry Watson) and Vice-Principal Gloria Sanchez (Yoshié Bancroft). They eagerly invite her to join the faculty of Daly Junior High for a six-week position. 

Settling right into work, Angela meets Cody Grier (Ben Daon) and his father, Jeff (Robert Moloney), who have been struggling since the death of mother and wife, Melissa. Jeff has tucked away all the dreams and plans he had made with Melissa, and Cody has gone from a top-notch student to a kid who even the guidance counselors don't want to work with. In the end, many lives will be changed with new chapters to look forward to for more than one character.

Highway to Heaven is a superb family film that deals with family, forgiveness, starting over, and second chances. Viewers gain insight into Cody and Jeff's life, but they also learn a bit about Bruce's past, which I believe might have evolved if the series were picked up. Have to admit I cried more than once. While I don't feel Scott and Watson had the comradery of Landon and French, that could have come with time as the actors and characters developed.

If you enjoyed the original Highway to Heaven, you will likely appreciate this movie. 

Release date: November 6, 2021 (United States)

Language: English 

Also known as: The Good Year 

Production companies: Propagate Rain Productions

Runtime: 1 hour 27 minutes

Color: Color 

Sound mix: Stereo

Aspect ratio: 16:9 HD

I watched this movie for free thanks to Amazon Prime Video. This review contains my honest opinions, which I have not been compensated for in any way.

Books to Film: Love's Enduring Promise (2004) Movie Review

 

The Davis family saga continues in Love's Enduring Promise, the sequel to Love Comes Softly. 

Missie Davis (now played by January Jones) is the local school teacher. She finds herself wooed by a wealthy surveyor, Grant Thomas, (portrayed by Mackenzie Astin), but when her father Clark (Dale Midkiff) suffers a life-threatening accident, the help of a mysterious stranger has her second guessing her true feelings. 

Airing on Hallmark Channel in 2004, Love's Enduring Promise shifts the story arc to Missie's character, which viewers will see continued in the next two films. Having viewed all of these movies up through Love Takes Wing, I feel this is the weakest film of the series. Perhaps that is to be expected after the moving performances of Katherine Heigl and Dale Midkiff as two people drawn together by necessity whose arrangement blossoms into love. These actors had such chemistry together that the focus shifting away from them means the actors portraying the love story in the sequel had to have equal or better chemistry, which wasn't visible to me. 

By now, Missie's family includes Marty's son Aaron Luke Davis (K'Sun Ray) and her brother Arnie Davis (Logan Arens). As she developed into a young woman, some of that spunk viewers enjoyed in Love Comes Softly has been tempered, which is to be expected. We do however see a bit of it when Nate (Logan Bartholomew) is plowing the field as Clark recovers. 

Missie is quickly taken with Grant Thomas, a wealthy surveyor who pursues her. Yet, she can't seem to get the mysterious Nate out of her mind. Nate comes with his own backstory, which unfolds along the way, and Clark is a compassionate father figure to Nate. 

My favorite parts of this movie are, no surprise, ones that involve Marty and Clark. In the opening sequence, we see Marty and Clark relaxing in a field together. Marty asks Clark to promise that he will never leave her, which he does. She asks him how he can be certain, and he quotes Scripture stating the two shall become one. She also comments on what a wonderful life he has given her and what a wonderful life they have made together, so the viewers feel they have been successful in their endeavors and enjoy their life. This foreshadows his life-threatening accident. 

My next favorite part comes at the end of the movie. 

SPOILERS AHEAD IN WHITE 

At the end of the movie, Missie is saying goodbye to her family, as she heads farther West with her new husband. Marty, holding back tears, provides motherly advice and reminds her to write once they are settled. But it is Missie and Clark's goodbye that tugs at the heartstrings. Clark tells her that ever since she was a little baby, he knew this day was coming because she had an independent spirit. 

She says, "Pa, my heart's breaking."

"Mine, too," Clark replies.

"Can you fix it?"

"Not this time, little one." They embrace. "Not this time."

Marty and the boys walk up to Clark to offer him support. As Missie and her husband pull away in their wagon, Clark waves and says, "Remember His Promise." 

Missie waves and replies, "No tears."

"No tears," Clark says. Then the camera focuses on his stricken face as he whispers, "No tears." 

Then the last shot is a faraway look of the wagon driving away. 

Clark's strong faith is a part of who he is. Viewers see that in Love Comes Softly, and they see it in Loves' Enduring Promise. That faith has helped him and his family through the years, and will be something they will lean on in the future. 

Michael Landon Jr. definitely inherited his father's ability to provide family friendly content that tugs at every heartstring. He has a knack for taking source material and adapting it to a new medium. I look forward to sharing more of this series with you.

• MPAA rating ‏ : ‎ Unrated (Not Rated) 
• Product Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 0.7 x 7.5 x 5.4 inches; 2.72 Ounces
• Director ‏ : ‎ Jr, Michael Landon
• Media Format ‏ : ‎ NTSC, Full Screen
• Release date ‏ : ‎ May 13, 2008
• Actors ‏ : ‎ Heigl, Katherine, Midkiff, Dale, Bartholomew, Logan
• Studio ‏ : ‎ 20th Century Fox
• ASIN ‏ : ‎ B00192YKE0

I own this movie on DVD. This review contains my honest opinions, which I have not been compensated for in any way.

Books to Film: Love Comes Softly (2003) Movie Review

I wanted to share this because it is similar in many ways to Little House on the Prairie and has some connections to those involved in the LHOP world. This movie was directed by Michael Landon Jr. In the sequel movies, Erin Cottrell, who portrayed Caroline Ingalls in the 2005 Little House on the Prairie mini-series, portrays an adult Missie Davis. Skye McCole Bartusiak portrayed Rose Wilder in Beyond the Prairie, Part 2: The True Story of Laura Ingalls Wilder, which was released a year before Love Comes Softly. 

When Marty Claridge (Katherine Heigl) set out on a pioneering adventure West with her husband Aaron (Oliver Macready), they were filled with hopes and dreams. But Aaron's sudden death soon after arriving, leaves Marty pregnant and alone. 

In steps Clark Davis (Dale Midkiff). On the day of Aaron's funeral, he approaches Marty with a proposition: marry him so she has a place to stay over the winter and so she can be a mother to his young daughter, Missie (Skye McCole Bartusiak). Then in the spring, if Marty wants to leave, Clark will pay for her journey back East. 

What choice does Marty have? So, she agrees, throwing herself into her new role. Little does she know that patience and faith will have to carry her through. 

Love Comes Softly is the first book in the series written by Janette Oke. Made into a movie that aired on Hallmark Channel and was directed by Michael Landon Jr., this wholesome story is one of faith, family, and love. I've never read the books, but this movie series is so well done that I definitely would like to read the book series they are based upon. 

Having now watched the entire original movie series (not the prequels), I can say that Love Comes Softly is my favorite. As the movie series continues, Katherine Heigl is replaced by another actress, who while talented, doesn't have the same chemistry with Dale Midkiff and who doesn't have the vitality that Heigl brought to the character. 

Love Comes Softly is about two people brought together out of necessity, whose relationship blossoms into love. Skye McCole Bartusiak plays the resentful daughter well, acting out because she sees Marty as a threat to her close bond with her Pa, and because she doesn't want a new mother. The interactions between Marty and Missie in those early days are entertaining and heartfelt. But just like Marty's heart softened toward Clark, Missie's softens toward Marty. That's when she realizes she doesn't want Marty to leave in the spring. 

Clark's strong faith plays a role in this movie as well. That faith inspires Marty when she doubts she can help Missie. It is Clark's faith that helps Marty understand that faith doesn't mean bad things won't happen, but that God will be there when they do. 

If you enjoy wholesome, faith-based family entertainment, Love Comes Softly is one of the best. 

• Item model number ‏ : ‎ 884482
• Director ‏ : ‎ Michael Landon Jr.
• Media Format ‏ : ‎ Color, NTSC, Full Screen, Multiple Formats, Closed-captioned, Subtitled, Widescreen
• Run time ‏ : ‎ 1 hour and 24 minutes
• Release date ‏ : ‎ September 14, 2004
• Actors ‏ : ‎ Katherine Heigl, Dale Midkiff, Corbin Bernsen, Skye McCole Bartusiak, Theresa Russell
• Subtitles: ‏ : ‎ English, Spanish
• Language ‏ : ‎ English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround), Unqualified (DTS ES 6.1), French (Dolby Surround), Spanish (Dolby Surround)
• Studio ‏ : ‎ 20th Century Fox
• ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0002IKSFM

I own this movie on DVD. This review contains my honest opinions, which I have not been compensated for in any way.

Movie Review: The Christmas Pageant

Photo credit Hallmark Channel

Director Vera Parks (Melissa Gilbert) has a career that is going nowhere fast. Labeled as difficult, she gets fired from several jobs in a row. Her manager Peter (Steve Lawrence) gets her a job directing a small town Christmas pageant.

Things go from bad to worse quickly. While some are eager to work with her, others are destined to fight any change Vera suggests. Vera has problems adjusting from her glamorous life in New York City, to the simple life in Ashton Falls. Then she runs into her ex-fiancé, Jack Harmond (Robert Mailhouse). Vera is soon considering whether she should return to New York or stick it out in Ashton Falls.

If ever there was a movie that Melissa Gilbert was born to star in, it's The Christmas Pageant. If Little House on the Prairie was set in modern times, then the storyline from this movie would be a perfect fit. A woman whose life centers around her career and posh city life, ends up in a simple town where there is one mail carrier and everyone knows each other. It's not long before Ashton Falls and its people begin to grow on Vera.

A blend of funny and sweet, this is a classic Hallmark romance. With a superb cast and quaint setting, you can't go wrong. If you are looking for a story that will touch your heart and remind you of the joys of being home, be sure to catch this movie on the Hallmark Channel in December. The next showing is Wednesday, December 21st at 10/9 Central.

Movie Review: Beyond the Prairie, Part 2: The True Story of Laura Ingalls Wilder (2002)

Beyond the Prairie, Part 2 continues the story of the Wilder family. Having set out in a covered wagon, they cross the Missouri River and leave Dakota behind.

While optimistic about their new home, troubles plague them. Almanzo's health continues to impair his ability to clear  the land and plant the apple trees left behind by the previous owners. They must hire help, but have no way to pay anyone other than in firewood. Rose is bullied at school and begins keeping to herself. She runs away and gets lost in a cave.

As the years pass, things improve for the Wilders, until Laura is called back to De Smet to visit her beloved father on his death bed.

A curious thing happens between the two movies. At the end of Beyond the Prairie, narrator Tess Harper, who plays an older Laura, tells viewers that the Wilders traveled for six weeks and arrived at their final destination in Missouri. Amazingly, Rose Wilder, who was a toddler (probably about 2) when she left De Smet, is school age at the beginning of Beyond the Prairie, Part 2. Now, I love Skye McCole Bartusiak's portrayal of the highly intelligent, moody Rose Wilder, but I thought the rapid aging of characters was reserved for soap operas. This seems to be one of those cases where the storyline dictates throwing common sense out the window.

Meredith Monroe and Walton (Walt) Goggins reprise their roles as Laura and Almanzo Wilder in this movie. Their performances are stellar, despite the inaccurate and somewhat lackluster storyline they are handed. We see the young couple thrilled to discover the new home they hope to turn into a prosperous farm. We ache with them when they believe the $100 bill Laura had tucked into her writing desk has disappeared, just as we rejoice when Laura finds the money that had slid into a crack. We are inspired by all the hard work they do to get their farm up and running, and we feel their anxiety when Rose is lost.

An interesting exchange takes place between Laura and a stranger on the wagon train. A young immigrant stops the Wilders on their way to the river, and encourages them to come into their camp for conversation. This is where the Wilders meet Beth and George Magnuson and their son, Charlie, who is played by a young Cody Linley (Jake Ryan, Hannah Montana). This immigrant approaches Laura at night when she is writing and asks her what their story is. She mentions the death of their son. In The Ghost in the Little House by William Holtz, it is said that the Wilders never spoke of their son's death. Rose didn't even know she had a brother until after her mother died. I find it curious that she would speak of something so personal to a stranger.

A tiny nitpick for the house on the Wilders' new property having a rusted box spring mattress that was left behind. While spring mattresses replaced the timber frames late in the 19th century, it's highly unlikely many pioneers would have been able to afford one, especially if they were living in a house as small as the first one that stood on what would be named Rocky Ridge Farm. It's kind of like spotting a red metal toolbox on the floor when Manly (Almanzo) brings Bessie (Laura) to see their new house under construction before they're married in the first movie. Also, for some reason, I recall there being a scene where Laura asks Rose if she took the $100 from the desk when they discover it missing. That's not on the DVD. It might not seem like an important scene, but just like the tense scenes between Rose and her mother where Laura insists she stop speaking her made up language or when Laura tells Rose she must return to school even if the girls are mean to her, it shows the somewhat difficult relationship they had in real life.

The viewer doesn't get a chance to see all of what happens in the near decade they lived at Rocky Ridge before the new house is built. As the first harvest of apples begins to ripen, Laura imagines for Rose what she thinks their future will look like, and suddenly we have this picture of the new house waiting for its coat of white paint. We get a chance to see the Ingalls family one last time and for Pa and Flutterbudget to share a moving moment.

What I find most interesting in Beyond the Prairie and Beyond the Prairie, Part 2 is how many people encouraged Laura's writing. Her own father toward the end of the movie instructs her not to forget about the pioneering era and not to let Rose forget it either. While poetry and writing articles seemed to come naturally for the real life Laura, it's truly not until she is encouraged by Rose, as a successful writer, that Laura considers penning her now classic books. Perhaps the writer and producers of the movie are attempting to show us that this was who she was meant to be all along, but I didn't get that feeling from the historical information I've read.

Overall, Beyond the Prairie, Part 2 has its place in the world for Laura fans. Those who don't care for the liberties Michael Landon took in producing Little House on the Prairie probably aren't going to be fond of this movie either. For those of us who grew up loving the television show, Beyond the Prairie, Part 2 and its predecessor is another way for us to honor the legacy that Laura left behind.

Actors: Terra Allen, Alandra Bingham, J. Scott Bronson, Courtnie Bull, Lindsay Crouse
Directors: Marcus Cole
Writers: Stephen Harrigan
Producers: Dori Weiss, Robert M. Rolsky, Stephen Harrigan
Format: Color, DVD, Full Screen, Subtitled, NTSC
Language: English
Subtitles: English
Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Number of discs: 1
Rated: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: Paramount
DVD Release Date: November 23, 2010
Run Time: 96 minutes
ASIN: B0042RJWRY
 
Dean Butler (Almanzo Wilder, Little House on the Prairie, NBC) is working on a production of Laura's life. It has been shown at some of the festivals celebrating the life of Laura Ingalls Wilder. Hopefully it makes it to TV or directly to DVD soon.

Movie Review: Beyond the Prairie: The True Story of Laura Ingalls (1999)

Beyond the Prairie: The True Story of Laura Ingalls Wilder and Beyond the Prairie, Part II were released as TV movies in 1999 and 2002, respectively. These movies have been packaged together and released by Paramount on one DVD (2010) for Laura fans. I will be reviewing each movie separately, as they both cover several years.

Before I go any further, let me state I have one pet peeve about both movies: the title. If you are going to put the word "true" in your title, then you should follow real life events and not exercise creative license all over the place. Now, I have clients who write fictional autobiographies of historical figures, but they clearly place, "A Novel," on the cover, so we all know the book is a healthy blend of fact and fiction. I don't even mind that the writers and producers of Beyond the Prairie opted to exercise creative license. Just don't put that four-letter word in the title, and all is good.

In this first movie, the viewer is introduced to a teenage Laura, living on the Dakota prairie with her family: Ma, Pa, Mary, Carrie, and Grace. A prairie fire threatens their home, and they work together to save it. Laura and Pa saddle up to go help others who might have been threatened by the fire. On the way back, they stumble upon a claim with a house frame on it. A man's jacket is hanging over one of the beams, and a curious Laura lifts an envelope out of the pocket to discover an odd name, "Almanzo." Pa scolds her, but Laura can't get that name out of her mind. She even talks to Mary about it one evening as she is describing the setting sun to her blind sister.

We move swiftly along to where Laura leaves home for the first time for her first teaching job. Then the town of De Smet is cut off  from the rest of civilization by the Hard Winter, and Almanzo and Cap Garland travel many miles to find seed wheat to save the town from starvation.

Laura and Almanzo marry and have a daughter. Things won't be happy for long, though. Almanzo and Laura lose their first crop to a hail storm. They have no way to pay their debts. They battle diphtheria. Laura gives birth to a second child, but he soon dies. Then a fire destroys their home.

Now living with the Ingalls family, Laura and Almanzo decide to move to Mansfield, Missouri. The movie ends with a tearful goodbye.

When I first watched this movie on CBS, I truly enjoyed it. Granted, it didn't capture me the way Little House on the Prairie did in the 70's and 80's, but I'm older, and probably a lot pickier since I've learned more about Laura and Almanzo's real life. I have to admit, however, it was challenging to see new actors in roles that had been portrayed on television for so long by others.

This Ingalls family and the townsfolk of De Smet were more serious, sometimes sullen. Charles and Caroline actually have a fight in front of the children about his desire to move farther west. That said, I feel this was probably much more realistic than the romanticized version of events that we got from the classic books or the television show.

I've loved Richard Thomas in everything else I've ever seen him in, but he didn't quite make it as Charles Ingalls. Some of the lines he delivered were totally flat. I also didn't care for how certain aspects of his character were portrayed. When Laura is asked to teach school by Mr. Bouchie, she tells Pa that she won't do it. Charles pushes/guilts her into it by saying the family needs the money, especially with Mary in college. In an early scene from the movie, the devout, religious Charles said the word "damned." Granted, faith did not play a role in this movie at all--something else I have a problem with considering the time period and the people--but anyone who has studied the Ingalls family knows their faith was a big part of who they were.

Meredith Monroe, who I loved as Andy on Dawson's Creek, delivers a good performance here as Laura. I don't care for the fact that we have a blonde Laura, considering how in the books Laura was jealous of Mary's golden hair. In this movie, Mary is a red-head. It's odd. This Laura does not seem as feisty as one would expect, but she's older and that feistiness has turned into a desire to live her life as she pleases.

Laura's love of freedom is a bit warped in Beyond the Prairie. After accepting the teaching position from Mr. Bouchie, Laura tells Almanzo she feels she's been, "sold into slavery." If we consider that this takes place less than twenty years after the end of the Civil War, it's not an appropriate statement. It seems modern-day thinking has wormed it's way onto the De Smet prairie. Though in real life Wilder later admitted she didn't enjoy teaching, she felt a responsibility to her family and paying jobs for women were few. After her teaching time is over, she tells Almanzo her life is going to be her own and no one is ever going to tell her what to do. I feel the not wanting to say "obey" in her wedding vows is a bit embellished here.

Walt Goggins captures the shy, quiet Almanzo Wilder well. At moments he's a bit awkward, but out of all the main characters, I felt his was the most realistic portrayal. I also appreciate that Beyond the Prairie showed how Almanzo's illness permanently impacted his health, which is part of why they decided to leave De Smet.

Having watched Beyond the Prairie: The True Story of Laura Ingalls Wilder for the first time since it  originally aired on television, I'm not as enamored with it as I was then. Part of that is because Little House on the Prairie is now available on DVD and I can watch my beloved show whenever I wish, instead of needing a TV movie to give me my Laura fix. I do, however, believe it has its place in Laura fandom, because it portrays a more realistic view of what the pioneers endured. The historically accurate fashion is a bonus, and filming in Utah and Texas made it look more like a prairie than California, where Little House on the Prairie was shot.

In the end, you're either going to like this movie--which I do--or be bothered by the creative license that was taken with Laura's life.


Actors: Terra Allen, Alandra Bingham, J. Scott Bronson, Courtnie Bull, Lindsay Crouse
Directors: Marcus Cole
Writers: Stephen Harrigan
Producers: Dori Weiss, Robert M. Rolsky, Stephen Harrigan
Format: Color, DVD, Full Screen, Subtitled, NTSC
Language: English
Subtitles: English
Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Number of discs: 1
Rated: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: Paramount
DVD Release Date: November 23, 2010
Run Time: 96 minutes
ASIN: B0042RJWRY