mbalzic
OK, so I have seen all of the other "Love" movies in the series. I especially liked the 1st movie in the series, "Love Comes Softly" with Katherine Heigl, before she made it big. Julie Mond in the part of Ellen Barlow, is an actress I knew I had seen SOMEWHERE, and for DAYS I mulled it over as to where I had seen her, and then one day it came to me, a bit part on General Hospital, where I noticed her first because she closely resembled Megan Follows who was in the PBS series, "Anne of Green Gables" many, many years ago. Anyway, this story was typical of all of the other movies (books, that I have not yet read) in the series. Not quite as syrupy sweet, but still solid acting and a decent story. I disagree with other reviews which panned the flick. This is a LOVE story, in a simple setting, very much the "chick flick". I really WANT for it all to work out in the end, and sure enough, it does. This movie, as many others are, is a simple romance, of two people who come together by odd circumstance and make the best of it, until they realize after the fact they had fallen in love somewhere along the way. The odd circumstance in this case is Clark and a friend are on the way to the gold fields to make their fortune. In a restaurant, Clark's friend starts a fight with 2 local boys, ending up with both in jail. Clark's friend manages to escape jail, while Clark stays behind in the open jail cell. The sheriff thinks he is a good judge of character and sees Clark as a decent person, willing up to take responsibility when he COULD have simply joined his friend in the jailbreak. The sheriff takes Clark to the Barlow ranch where Ellen and her sister are barely making a living with the farm. A storm has caused significant damage. The sheriff knows Ellen could use help on the farm, so brings Clark out to work off the debt, a week at a time. Another week and Clark makes another payment to Millie, where she comments that time passes quickly for one of two reasons, being really busy, or being really happy, and she wonders which it is for Clark. While in town, Clark sees the Sheriff and there is some foretelling there, when the Sheriff comments on how well he is getting along, and that he knows it will go on into the future and all will be for the best. Another storm, and Clark leaves the toolbox on the roof where he was making repairs. And, of course, the roof starts to leak since he had not completed the repairs. Thunder, lightning. Ellen decides to go out to help, and in the meantime, Clark falls off the roof. Scene change to Clark inside, where Ellen and Cassie decide to let him sleep inside instead of in the barn. Ellen admits to being SO scared when Clark fell, thinking that he might have been taken away from her. She says to Clark, "Rest now... (long pause) my love". And there it IS, the tipping point where you KNOW what the ending is going to be. Later she says, that she thought he was sleeping, but when he asks, admits that she DID mean it... Plans change... Then, in town later, it's HIM, Jake Weller, the man who left Ellen to seek HIS fortune in the gold fields 2 years earlier, and from his dress, apparently has done quite well for himself. Jake and Ellen talk for a moment in the street, while Clark saddles up and leaves. Jake and Ellen go to MIllie's to eat and catch up on things. He hit the big one, he says, enough gold to buy a small country, or so he says. Jake thinks Ellen will go off with him now that he has come back for her, as a rich man, exactly as he had promised. Jake proposes to Ellen. And, wait for it, the next scene shows Ellen and Clark while he packs to leave. And of course, she tells him, Clark, that she is in love with him, and of course, HE then asks her to marry HIM... Cut to the final wedding scene of Clark and Ellen. Sorry for the spoiler here, but it fits. This spoiler will NOT hurt the movie if you have never seen it. You KNOW what is going to happen if you have seen any of the other movies or read the books from the opening scenes... I agree with one thing said in other reviews, the pace does move slowly... but then, so do many other movies I have seen of ALL genres, so this one is not alone in that respect. Only one thing bothered me, what happens with Cassie, Ellen's younger sister, who appears about 13 in this movie. At the time of "Love Comes Softly" Ellen is newly married and traveling west, so there is a major gap in TIME with no explanation. One final thought: I really liked the scene where Clark is given some flowers by Cassie, and later he gives the flowers to Millie, played by Nancy McKeon, as he makes the 1st payment toward the damage he and a friend caused during a fight (not caused BY him, but he was involved in) back at the beginning. Ms. McKeon has always been a favorite of mine and even though she has a supporting bit part, her role as Millie IS important to the plot and story line. Enjoy the movie... I know that _I_ did...
