This is my 4992nd Review
Original Rating prediction – 7/10
“I wanna say somethin’. I’ve known since the train that we weren’t liable to find him. It was just a hair of a chance that we got Sam back. I knew that. Maybe I knew even before we left home, but somehow I just had to try! And if we don’t try, we don’t do. And if we don’t do, why are we here on this earth? ” – Charlie Anderson
Number of Times Seen – 1 (17 Feb 2019)
Brief Synopsis – A farmer tries to stay neutral during the Civil War but circumstances force him to try and rescue his son when he is captured.
My Take on it – This is a film that has a very intriguing premise which unfortunately doesn’t work as well as it probably should.
The characters unfortunately all feel underdeveloped and stereotypical which hurts things a lot.
there is a bit of integrity in the actions of Jimmy Stewart and his family yet something constantly feels missing that would make the story more engaging and intriguing.
They do a nice job of showing the difficulties of wartime especially on those who are avoiding the fight itself.
In addition, I liked the way that they show how both sides of the conflict aren’t perfect in the choices they make since war can be very brutal and cause people to sometimes act in very irrational ways.
Bottom Line – Interesting premise that just doesn’t work well enough here. The characters all feel too stereotypical and despite their integrity, something constantly feels missing that would make things even more intriguing to watch. The film does a nice job tho of showing how difficult wartime can be even for those who are trying to avoid the conflict. They also do a nice job showing how neither side is perfect in its decisions along the way since war causes people to sometimes act in very irrational ways.
MovieRob’s Favorite Trivia – The opening battle scenes are taken from Raintree County (1957) and are printed as a mirror image of the original footage. The same scenes can also be seen in, amongst other films, How the West Was Won (1962). (From IMDB)
Rating – BAFTA Worthy (5/10)
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MovieRob 
Interesting trivia. First time I saw this, on TV, thought it was pretty good. Very sad. A lot of unexpected deaths considering the whole point was for the family to avoid the war. It was later turned into a Broadway musical.
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