Monday, December 16, 2013

When Calls The Heart Movie Review


I have a great movie to tell you about, When Calls The Heart by Michael Landon Jr. based on the book by Janette Oke.  My friend Maura introduced me to Janette Oke books years ago and I absolutely adore them.

I really enjoyed this movie for a number of reasons.  It was clean, wholesome and just a pleasure to watch.  I know that sometimes when I watch made for television movies I expect the acting to be subpar but not so in this wonderful film.  I was pleasantly surprised with the cast, the actors did a great job filling their roles nicely.  I also liked the two complimentary story lines that unfolded - young Elizabeth and her desire to teach (even with a harder assignment) and her Aunt Elizabeth serving as a teacher on the frontier years ago (discovered through her diaries).  I liked how the young Elizabeth was able to receive encouragement through her aunt's past adventures in her diary and ultimately take a leap of faith and trust God with her future.

This movie was encouraging, refreshing and enjoyable just as Janette Oke books have been to me as well.  There is a little bit for everyone - adventure, romance, comedy and drama.  I hope if you get the chance you will watch this movie and enjoy it as I have.

This movie originally aired on the Hallmark Channel and recently released to video last month (November 19th).

Read more about this movie below.

When Calls The Heart
Directed by Michael Landon Jr. and based on the best-selling books by Janette Oke, this film tells the story of a young, high society teacher receiving her first classroom post in a prairie town in the Western Frontier.  Determined to prove to her family that she is brave enough to live on her own, Elizabeth (Poppy Drayton) struggles with her own fears and doubts until she discovers her late Aunt's diary.  Her aunt (Maggie Grace), also named Elizabeth, had set off on a similar adventure as a teacher into the frontier, where she struggled with prairie life and eventually met and fell in love with a Royal Canadian Mountie (Stephen Amell).  Reading her aunt's words, the young Elizabeth decides to put her future in God's hands and embark on her own adventure where she uses the diary as her guide as well as Edward, another Mountie (Daniel Sharman), sworn to see her arrive.

When Calls the Heart debuted on the Hallmark Channel to more than 3.2 million viewers, making it the No. 1 movie of the week on ad-supported cable.  Distributed by Word Entertainment, the DVD became available for purchase in Christian retail last month on November 19th, 2013.

Michael Landon Jr. - Director
Michael Landon Jr., son of the late television legend Michael Landon, has been in the film business for over 25 years.  With two of the highest rated films in the history of the Hallmark channel, and several top ten releases targeted to the Christian market, Michael has become known for creating heartfelt, inspiring films that connect to the family.  He has developed and/or produced, directed, and written screenplays for Fox, CBS, NBC, Disney, Sony, Lifetime, and others.

About Word Entertainment
A leader in the music industry for over 60 years, Word Entertainment, a Warner/Curb company, is a unique, comprehensive entertainment company comprised of multi-faceted artist service departments including publishing, merchandising, booking, and on-line initiatives.  Word Entertainment represents some of the top names and brands in music, including Meredith Andrews, Chris August, BarlowGirl, Francesca Battistelli, Big Daddy Weave, Jason Castro, Patrick Ryan Clark, Everfound, for KING & COUNTRY, Group 1 Crew, Love & The Outcome, Dara Maclean, Point of Grace and Sidewalk Prophets and is home to 25 Entertainment, Word Distribution (representing Curb Records and Big Idea/VeggieTales among others), Word Print, Word Films, Word Music Publishing and Word Label Group's Word Records, Word Worship and Fervent Records.

Check out the trailer here and let me know what you think!

Disclosure:  Thanks so much to Edify Media for providing me with a copy of When Calls The Heart on DVD to facilitate my review.  All opinions expressed are 100% my own.

No comments: