Since I was a child, I have been fascinated with cowboys and horses which leads to why I love horses so much that I would love to own one someday. Seeing that this movie was all about cowboys and God, I didn't hesitate, I quickly went for it. I have to confess, this movie was everything I expected and it is not a movie for everyone, it is a movie for some specific kind of people.
'Peace River' is a movie that celebrates God, country and the cowboys in the life of a rodeo champion who later became a military Veteran. This movie reached the targeted audience but it also reached a few wrong audiences who were the ones that strongly and negatively criticized this movie. That is why I say, this movie is not for everyone.
'Peace River (2022)' is a strong religious film which revolves around Christianity, romance, cowboys and army. This movie was written by Benjamin M. Jones and directed by Douglas James Vail. It starred Benjamin Jones, Jessica Nunez-Wood, Chase Garland, Zane Barber, Cazzey Louis Cereghino and Shane DuBray. The story of this movie revolves around a rodeo champion young man who was injured during war while he was in the special forces unit of the army experiencing loss, pain, PTSD, regret, and grief. He must now fight for his life with his faith so darkness wouldn't consume him.
Summary Of The Plot.
Casey, a young boy who recently lost his father was in the care of his grandparents. His grandfather took him as his son. Teaching him the ways of country life and nudging him towards the path of Christianity. His grandfather made him understand that Cowboys love big skies and open ranges. They work hard and they are men of their word. They also are loyal to their friends and family, and treat everyone with respect, especially their women. Lastly, they are courageous and fear God and no man. With these norms and values, Casey grew up to be a good man alongside his childhood first love Maria.
On a fateful day, he won rodeo's champion medal but Maria failed in her competition. This drove a wedge in their relationship as Casey went to celebrate on his own and Maria went back home feeling sad for her loss. While Casey celebrated at a bar, he got drunk and cheated on Maria. Upon hearing this news, Maria's heart shattered and she went to confront Casey about it, but he gaslighted her by blaming her for it. So they broke up.
After the break up, Casey decided to enroll into the army which went well and he then joined the special forces unit of the army. On the other hand, Maria went to further her education in college and to move on with her life. Afterwards, Casey went for a tour in Afghanistan and all his unit members died while he survived. This made Casey drift into darkness using alcohol, drugs, and isolation to stay away from his people and God. Will Casey be restored back? Will he fight to get Maria back? Will he retrace his steps back to God?.
My Review And Rating.
Like I said earlier, this movie is not for everyone unless you are into cowboys. You will definitely find this movie interesting and if you are a strong Christian, this movie will strengthen your faith in Christ. This movie was acted by non-professional actors which makes the movie a grade C+ movie in the theater but for me, I don't consider it as such. This movie received a lot of backlash from so many people because they were actually the wrong audience for this movie. If you are not a religious person, you might not enjoy this movie that much.
The director of this movie did a fantastic job with this movie, though I felt like the story of this movie was not well written and that made the movie not to be appealing to non-religious people. The director did his best to cover these lapses which was very obvious when I watched the movie. The Cast also participated in covering these lapses but still I could read from their mannerisms that the cast didn't have chemistry but still they did their best.
This movie can be compared to 'Redeeming Love (2022)' directed by D.J. Caruso and distributed by Universal Pictures in the aspect of the genres. If this movie was handled by the production crew of the Redeeming Love movie, I can bet that movie would perform well in the theaters.
The story of this movie was endearing, emotional, heartbreaking, and full of real-life situations and challenges. It also talks about how God's presence in our life represents freedom and that without it, we can’t have love and the importance of a friendship with God. Not only these, this movie also explores some themes like redemption, faith in God, betrayal, consequences, power of prayer, power of being thankful in all situations and finally, how to overcome grief with God.
The scene arrangements were excellently done, the costumes used by the cast was befitting for each of their roles, the location for the film was amazing for me. I loved and enjoyed watching all the scenery, especially the horses and the ranches. Everything that was used to create all the scenes gave off a modern day Cowboy movie vibe which I enjoyed.
Rating this movie, I will give it 4 out 5 stars. If the writer of the movie had done a good job, this movie would have been excellent and deserving of 5 stars. I truly enjoyed this movie, the experience was good for me and it further strengthened my faith in God with all the examples of life struggles portrayed in the movie. So it was relatable. If you are a religious person, I urge you to watch the movie and if you are not, you can still watch it.
All images above are from the movie screenshots
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