This film is quite possibly Dean Cain's best performance of his career. The way that family, friends and law enforcement officers come together to help a family whose two-year old son has gone missing is the strength of this film. The viewer gets involved in this search as if it was an ongoing real event. We are hoping and almost praying that the child will be found before dark but as the day wears on that seems more and more unlikely. Dean Cain gives such a strong emotional performance as the anguished father yearning for his son's return. Definitely worth watching!
Reviews
32 Reviews
Perception
(2012–2015)
Superb IN All Aspects
8 March 2022
I am currently watching this series for the first time some 7 years after its run finished and I have to day that I am delighted with what I have seen so far. Eric McCormack has never been better in anything that I have seen him in before. His character is totally believable. You would not think that the beautifully petit Rachael Leigh Cook, at 5' 2", could pass herself off as an FBI agent, but, yet again, her portrayal works so well.
Well done to all involved in this series. It is such a pity that its run didn't go beyond 2015.
Well done to all involved in this series. It is such a pity that its run didn't go beyond 2015.
Journey to Shiloh
(1968)
Run of the Mill Western Action.
8 December 2021
There are quite a lot of young budding stars in the cast of this film which fails to impress but I gave it an extra point for having Brenda Scott who set my heart a flutter when I was 19 in the late 60's. James Caan's awful wig was enough to make anyone fall off their chair with laughter.
If I Only Had Christmas
(2020 TV Movie)
Delightful Christmas Fare
6 November 2021
The leading man in this movie was born in my home town of Belfast but my main reason for watching was the presence of the wonderful Candace Cameron Bure who gave one of her finest performances. It's a feel good movie where the main characters interact so well and you know that everything will work out at the end.
The Healing Garden
(2021)
Warm and Life Affirming
17 August 2021
A former military chaplain is broke and struggling to cope after the death of his wife. He moves to a small community where everyone has their own special problems. There he regains a strong sense of an ever present God when he embarks on turning a piece of wasteland into a healing garden.
This is a film that grows on you as it progresses. The little girl, Hope, who takes an interest in the chaplain and his garden project, gives an amazing performance.
This is a film that grows on you as it progresses. The little girl, Hope, who takes an interest in the chaplain and his garden project, gives an amazing performance.
End of a Gun
(2016)
Sleep Inducing Action Movie
7 June 2021
I watched this movie tonight because I had nothing else to do. It was just Seagal playing the same character that he has played in so many below par movies. I had to turn up the volume on my tv set just to hear what he was saying to the cardboard villains. He needs to lose 70 pounds but, at 69, he should retire and leave us with memories of his younger days as an action man.
The Magic of Belle Isle
(2012)
Pure Magic!
15 December 2020
This is the kind of film I enjoy. Films with a large body count or with gratuitous sex scenes leave me cold. Morgan Freeman as the world-weary wheelchair bound alcoholic author gives one of his finest performances. Virginia Madsen and the children, particularly Emma Fuhrmann, were outstanding support. The cranky author and the family living next door gradually develop a relationship where life has been enhanced for everyone involved. I would definitely put this film in my top 10 of the past decade.
A Christmas Winter Song
(II) (2019)
A Film for Any Time of the Year
22 November 2020
We have been bombarded with mind numbingly boring Christmas themed films since September. I watched this film today with no great expectations but as it went on I got more and more involved with the storyline. Stan Shaw was superb as the ailing father wanting to reconcile with his daughter. Most of us at times have a strained relationship with one or more of our parents and this film brings these thoughts and feelings into focus. Reconciliation at Christmas was the theme but thankfully without santa and candy cane. The supporting cast was excellent throughout.
Finding Bigfoot
(2011– )
Not as Funny as Laurel & Hardy
3 August 2020
I have to say that I have only watched the first two seasons. I think that we all know that the team were never in any danger of finding any evidence of Sasquatch. They go out into the woods with bright lights on their cameras and make howling noises to attract a response form whatever is out there. Any self respecting beast would head in the opposite direction. However, their attempts to be serious about what they are doing makes it amusing. They need to learn that you don't find Sasquatch. Sasquatch, if it exists, will find you. Ranae is the sceptical one in the team and that is a good thing. Only watch if you have really nothing else to do.
Oops, Who Spotted this 20th Century Intrusion?
24 June 2020
I watched many of the William Tell episodes some 60 years ago when I was a small boy. About 4 minutes into 'The Hostages' when the Austrian soldiers were pursuing Tell in a boat you can clearly see in the background a large motor vehicle, perhaps a tanker or a lorry, moving from right to left. The outdoor scenes were filmed in North Wales probably in the winter of 1957/58.
Worzel Gummidge
(2019– )
Scarecrow Magic
26 December 2019
I have just watched the first episode of this two part series and found it wonderfully imaginative even for a near 70 year-old like me. Mackenzie Crook played Worzel to perfection with his words of wisdom and the robin chicks in his pocket was a nice touch. The two children, having experienced a little bit of magic in their lives, reacted with a sense of wonder that I would have felt at that age. I hope that a longer series is planned for 2020/21. I will be watching!
Christmas Grace
(2013)
Preachy but Watchable
24 November 2019
This film is not as bad as many of its critics make out. I am a Christian but have no connection with the making of it. The whole concept could have been better handled with more experienced actors and better direction. The essential message that God's grace is available for those who seek it came through. The sudden faith conversion of Gary's business adversary was a little far fetched but that's ok given the nature of the film. I don't like watching films about zombies, mass murder and I can categorically say that this film is safe from all that!
Christmas at Cartwright's
(2014 TV Movie)
Delightful Holiday Film
18 November 2019
The presence of Alicia Witt and Wallace Shawn lift this film above the ordinary. Alicia is such a delight to watch in the role of a single mother without a job who is trying to remain positive and trying to give her daughter a happy Christmas experience. I wanted to give her a big hug and tell her that everything would work out well!
Christmas Bells Are Ringing
(2018 TV Movie)
Hugely Disappointing
10 November 2019
I find this 'Christmas' film quite dire. It's much more of a woman's film than a man's. I spent many happy summer months on Cape Cod in the past and hoped to see some locations that I recognised only to find that the outdoor scenes were shot in BC, Canada. Beautiful house interiors and snowy outdoor scenes don't necessarily make a good film.
Young Sheldon
(2017–2024)
Unexpectedly Good
7 June 2019
I was never a great fan of 'The Big Bang Theory' but these adventures of a young Sheldon were quite amusing. The cast is strong and knit well together. Ian Armitage plays a young irritating Sheldon who tries the patience of his entire family. The star of the two series is undoubtedly Zoe Perry who has such a range of facial expressions when confronted with what her brainy son is doing. Series 1 was rather better than Series 2 but I think it deserves another series.
Suntan
(2016)
Interesting But Predictable
4 June 2019
The idea of an older man falling for a younger woman is nothing new in the history of the cinema. Our doctor is a man with personal relationship and professional failures who finishes up on a small Greek island just before Christmas. The place is dull in winter with really nothing around to interest him. Come summer and the place is buzzing with young tourists out for sun and sex. Elli Tringou is excellent as the pretty young woman who comes to him as a patient and shows an interest in the doctor as a person. The doctor's new young friend is a bit of a flirt. The doctor becomes smitten and soon is trying to spend more time around her and her set of friends. We know how this relationship is going to turn out long before the end. I didn't feel any empathy towards the doctor. He really should have known better!
Jesse Stone: Lost in Paradise
(2015 TV Movie)
The Best of Jesse Stone.
3 May 2019
I have watched all 9 of the Jesse Stone movies and, for me, this one is the best. Tom Selleck brings this flawed whiskey and coffee loving police chief to life in a way that I don't think anyone else could. An alcoholic with a broken marriage behind him somehow comes across as a very decent human being with real compassion for those that he tries to help. Taking time to help a young girl with an alcoholic mother was a nice touch. I loved his interactions with his new dog as he tries to find out what he likes to eat. Jesse is a man that many men can identify with. There is a pace and realism in this series that was lacking in many police dramas. I am really looking forward to Jesse Stone's next adventure.
12 Angry Men
(1957)
Memorable and Engrossing
23 February 2019
Warning: Spoilers
Much has been said over the years about this brilliant movie. It still entertains no matter how often it is viewed. The 12 jurors are a complete cross-section of society ranging from the liberal to the racist. Interestingly there are no women on the jury or in the movie as a whole but this does not detract from the quality of the acting.
The main flaw comes near the end regarding the eyesight of the main witness in another building who saw the murder through the windows of a passing L train. We are told that this woman was in her mid forties but dressed in court to look ten years younger. Now, even the most stupid lawyer would bring up the question of whether the witness needed to use glasses and especially if she had them on when the killing took place. Why did the accused boy's lawyer not bring up this point?
Still, this movie should be on everyone's list of the top 20 films ever made.
The Magnificent Seven
(2016)
The Not So Magnificent Seven
4 February 2019
This is a decent western but is no comparison to the original 1960 film. I particularly like a western with stirring theme music but in this area this film was so unlike the original. It was so predictable at times. I knew that the good Indian would kill the bad one or that the girl would kill the final living bad man in the church scene near the end. The death toll in this big budget movie would have been similar to the battle of the Little Big Horn. The film needed a John Wayne, James Stewart, Steve McQueen or Glenn Ford to give us characters that we can identify with. Nevertheless, for big fans of 50's westerns like myself, it's fairly decent for a western in the modern era.
The Revenant
(I) (2015)
Brutal and Raw
3 January 2019
I have always been a fan of films featuring the American west in the 19th century but this movie was something else. The action takes place against a bleak wintery landscape. The violence between Indians and fur trappers is grim right from the beginning with quite a high death toll in the first 30 minutes of this excessively long film. The violence is probably one of the most realistic portrayals of this kind of conflict in cinema history. Sadly, the characters are rather one dimensional and we can't really warm to any of them. There's no humour or light relief anywhere to be had. It's a film I would watch only once.
The Oath
(2016)
Watchable but Lacking Real Drama.
31 December 2018
This was my first adventure into Icelandic films but hopefully, not my last. The storyline is not new. How many fathers have a stroppy son or daughter who mixes with the most unsavoury people? The film centres around how the doctor dad handles his daughter's involvement with a drug dealer who threatens him when he causes a new stash of drugs to fall into the hands of the police.
How the doctor punishes the drug dealer is bizarre to say the least. He doesn't want to kill him but just wants to hold him long enough to get him to promise to leave his daughter alone. In a country with a population of only 350,000 people surely the police have a handle on who the major drug operators are.
The plot fits into the cold and bleak Icelandic landscape quite well but it's not a film that will live long in the memory.
Flawed Comedy Western
28 December 2018
I must be one of the few people who have never heard of Seth McFarlane but Liam Neeson was brought up just 20 miles from where I was. My brother, a junior national lightweight boxing champion, often fought on the same bills as Liam and got to know him fairly well.
With this film I was expecting another 'Blazing Saddles' but it was not quite up to that level. I found some of the gags just a bit too crude for my liking but Charlize Theron and Liam kept it watchable with sterling performances. Sometimes it seemed a decent straight western and then it would quickly descend into a crude farce. I will never think of Liam Neeson again without picturing that flower stuck in his backside. Now that was funny!
The Nine Lives of Christmas
(2014 TV Movie)
A Delightful Christmas Romance
24 December 2018
I found this film by chance whilst flicking through my television channels. I was not familiar with any of the actors except Gregory Harrison who once starred in a Christmas film with Olivia Newton John. I am often told that I didn't marry because I don't like to make commitments which is pretty true for me. Because of that I felt some sympathy for Brandon Routh's fireman character. However, the delightful Kimberley Sustad was perfect for the role as a young woman with a love for animals who eventually fans the flame of love in the fireman's heart. This is a much better than average Christmas film even though we all know that it is going to turn out well in the end.
A Shoe Addict's Christmas
(2018 TV Movie)
Perfect Vehicle for Candace
23 December 2018
I'm a big fan of Candace Cameron Bure. She seems to get more beautiful now that she is in her 40's. I've seen most of her Christmas themed movies over the past 10 years and this one is perhaps the best. She is in almost every scene and her interaction with the other characters is very entertaining. Her relationship with Luke Macfarlane is just right for this light hearted romp. Luke is a foot taller than her so high heels are much in evidence in a movie where shoes play a leading role. A very recent release, this movie is certain to become a seasonal favourite.
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