Customer Reviews

Getting Married in Buffalo Jump

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Formerly titled "Buffalo Jump", this Canadian romance stars Paul Gross (of Due South fame) and Wendy Crewson (Santa Clause movies.) Wendy plays a woman rancher in need of a hire hand. Paul Gross will help on one condition - that they have a platonic business marriage and share the profits from the ranch. Families from both sides interfere and weigh in on the the issue, and the tension and tenderness between the two leads is believable and heartbreaking. The scenary is breathtaking, as is the soundtrack featuring many of K.D. Langs first hits. Whether you rent it or buy it, this is a romance to treasure.

This movie was a wonderful surprise. I bought it because it stars Paul Gross, whose work I've appreciated in the Due South television series. I expected to see an ordinary boy-meets-girl romance, something cute, fluffy, and forgettable with some nice eye candy.

Instead, I found a well-written, appealingly filmed, and very well-acted story that works on a number of levels. Yes, there's a love story at its heart, though hardly of the traditional sort. More than that, it's an exploration of the realities and economic necessities of life in a small, remote agricultural community - it takes place in the foothills of Alberta, Canada, but could just as well have taken place in any small farm town in North America - and of the intersection of cultures: Ukrainian and Scottish immigrants, Natives ("Indians"), and city folks learning to make a go of small-town farming life. Most of all, it's about the interconnected lives of a handful of people and how they and their relationships grow and change as a result of the unorthodox romance between the two central characters.

The cast is uniformly excellent; there are no weak performances. The beautiful, spare Alberta landscape is an important character in its own right. The score could perhaps be a bit better, but is at least unobtrusive and is enhanced by three k.d. lang songs. The only slight fault I found was with the ending, which I felt was perhaps just a bit more abrupt than it might have been, but that's a very small criticism within the greater scope of a movie that I loved and will doubtless watch again and again.

Very much recommended.

One of my all time favorite love stories - tenderness, gentleness and emotional.

Mama wants her daughter to become a concert pianist [she actually plays in lounges] not settle for the ranch that will drag her down.

She has other ideas, as her father has left the ranch to her, but her mother wants to sell.
She has the land but not much working knowledge when Alex applies as a handyman.

It becomes a very sticky point when she finds out that Alex has a son with a woman he didn't marry.
I loved the line "When he's gone, he's gone" ---- how Alex makes it up to his son and finally wins Sophie.
The whole gist of mama trying to undermine Sophie's determination to keep the ranch and her interest in Alex was heart-rending.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED -- definitely a keeper to watch over and over again.

This movie was a wonderful surprise. I bought it because it stars Paul Gross, whose work I've appreciated in the Due South television series. I expected to see an ordinary boy-meets-girl romance, something cute, fluffy, and forgettable with some nice eye candy.

Instead, I found a well-written, beautifully filmed, and very well-acted story that works on a number of levels. Yes, there's a love story at its heart, though hardly of the traditional sort. More than that, it's an exploration of the realities and economic necessities of life in a small, remote agricultural community - it takes place in the foothills of Alberta, Canada, but could just as well have taken place in any small farm town in North America - and of the intersection of cultures: Ukrainian and Scottish immigrants, Natives ("Indians"), and city folks learning to make a go of small-town farming life. Most of all, it's about the interconnected lives of a handful of people and how they and their relationships grow and change as a result of the unorthodox romance between the two central characters.

The cast is uniformly excellent; there are no weak performances. The beautiful, spare Alberta landscape is an important character in its own right. The score could perhaps be a bit better, but is at least unobtrusive and is enhanced by three k.d. lang songs. The only slight fault I found was with the ending, which I felt was perhaps just a bit more abrupt than it might have been, but that's a very small criticism within the greater scope of a movie that I loved and will doubtless watch again and again.

Very much recommended.

If you are a Wendy Crewson (Air Force One, Unexpected love, Perfect Pie "24" Season 3, you will love this movie. She is abt 30 in it. If your not a Crewson fan but love Hallmark type movies you will love this. A warm modern western.

This movie was a wonderful surprise. I bought it because it stars Paul Gross, whose work I've appreciated in the Due South television series. I expected to see an ordinary boy-meets-girl romance, something cute, fluffy, and forgettable with some nice eye candy.

Instead, I found a well-written, appealingly filmed, and very well-acted story that works on a number of levels. Yes, there's a love story at its heart, though hardly of the traditional sort. More than that, it's an exploration of the realities and economic necessities of life in a small, remote agricultural community - it takes place in the foothills of Alberta, Canada, but could just as well have taken place in any small farm town in North America - and of the intersection of cultures: Ukrainian and Scottish immigrants, Natives ("Indians"), and city folks learning to make a go of small-town farming life. Most of all, it's about the interconnected lives of a handful of people and how they and their relationships grow and change as a result of the unorthodox romance between the two central characters.

The cast is uniformly excellent; there are no weak performances. The beautiful, spare Alberta landscape is an important character in its own right. The score could perhaps be a bit better, but is at least unobtrusive and is enhanced by three k.d. lang songs. The only slight fault I found was with the ending, which I felt was perhaps just a bit more abrupt than it might have been, but that's a very small criticism within the greater scope of a movie that I loved and will doubtless watch again and again.

Very much recommended.

A nice little love story, low key and charming, and of course with the incomparable Paul Gross, and everyone else is good, too.

On an isolated ranch on the Alberta prairie where the foothills of the Rockies make for spectacular scenery, an attractive ranch hand awkwardly proposes a quid pro quo to his boss. He mends fences and squires her to town and cattle auctions. She defends her decision to stay on the ranch she inherited to an ambitious and somewhat bitter widowed mother who would rather see her daughter return to Toronto even if it is only to a career as a lounge singer. The daughter falls for the ranch hand, most would . But the ranch hand has a past and a family only to eager to advocate a lop sided marriage settlement for their son. It's hard to tell what the proposed bridegroom feels. What should the heroine do ?

Adding texture to the main plot are tidbits of cultural anthropology, Alberta style.
The ambitions of discriminated against Ukrainian farm families, the errors of small town gossip, the disadvantages which accrue to First Nation people in western Canada and the primogeniture strictures of landed families are all explored. Pace unfolds like the kd lang soundtrack , erotic, mellow and husky.

I have watched this film countless times. It makes a case for trusting the good in others and for the value of sticking to basics. It argues for integrity, it debunks cuteness, and it makes a case for following one's heart.

Although this buffalo jump is metaphoric there are many real ones on the western plains from Wyoming north. And there is a quintessential Buffalo Jump in southern Alberta which evokes the landscape of this film.

Should you make the pilgrimage to see the locations of this film it is also worth noting the nearby scenery shot for the film Brokeback Mountain. All can be seen north of the Montana border up towards Calagary and then Jasper NP.

It is scenery so beautiful and loaded with content that it will capture you if it does not break your heart.

Ok...not much I can add to the previous reviews. It IS a keeper to watch over and over again. The first thing that impressed me was the gorgeous scenery. The mountains in the background were breathtaking. It's not a guy kind of movie, but for the true romantic it's a must have for your video library. Parts were played well and the characters believable.
There were a couple of real hard to believe scenes. It's hard to believe that the nude romps in the creek never amounted to more than a brief kiss and the continuation of a "business" arrangement. The male star hunk chomped on his toothpick 24/7 except for that occasional kiss. It was a sexy touch once, but it could have been dropped from the rest of the movie AND as any well bred cowgirl (or cowboy) knows it isn't a very bright cowboy who breaks from a chute to bulldog a steer with that toothpick in his mouth!! Loved the movie, but the toothpick thing I found very distracting.

Paul Gross is his gorgeous young self in this film that takes viewers on a slow and gentle ride over beautiful scenery with amazing horses, and with plot twists that will keep you guessing. It's a shame this DVD is always listed as 'currently unavailable' on amazon unless (once in a blue moon) someone decides to sell their personal copy... for about $200.