Sick Product of a Sick System

good back-story, and good acting

Fantastic!

Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.

As this movie began I saw the crystal clear colour, sharp focus, and Western setting, and was about to turn it off. Then the young hitch-hiker appeared and I thought. "Oh no! Cutesy-pooh-made-for-TV family schmaltz," but, I was home, sick, on the sofa, and Tom Selleck's usually worth watching so.... The movie hadn't got very far before I realised that I was watching something pretty extraordinary. It was a movie that was inviting me to think, to think about what it means to be a man, and and in particular, a strong man who is facing the alien world of age and declining powers. Tom Selleck's performance showed, to me, a man who, through his relationship with the girl (great actress by the way!) learnt something about life, and drew strength and comfort from the knowledge, whilst she drew greater strength and understanding of the world as a result of being treated like an adult for the first time. If a really cheesy director had been in charge, I can see these words rolling across the screen at the end: "Old age hath yet his honour and his toil; Death closes all: but something ere the end, Some work of noble note, may yet be done, Not unbecoming men that strove with Gods." (Tennyson)

I really enjoyed this movie. Apart from the very brief nude sequence it was a quality film. I enjoyed seeing Tom Selleck in something different and I agree with the other comment in here that Rebekah Johnson should have gotten more roles. She was great. The story was believable, and I was touched at Tom Selleck's playing of his part. Quite a few sequences were also not unrealistic in the situation of the older man and a young girl combination; and I can't help feeling the movie would have had a more family rating without the very small nude scene I mentioned earlier. Good to see some known faces in the movie apart from Tom Selleck as well. I recommend this movie to anyone who gets the opportunity to view it. Maybe one day it might be available in DVD, that would be great also.

It's a beautiful movie. I was really surprised that it was made for TV. You are used to a lot less depth in the medium. Conforming to the conventions of the small screen (no cursing, no sex, no nudity, etc.) it manages to create a strong and heartfelt drama out of a very modest plot. It's a very sweet movie but it is never shy from exploring, in a very understated way, the tensions in the story. **SPOILER ALERT** A declining middle aged white rodeo cowboy and a very cute under-aged middle class black girl wandering in the wilderness. Bars, brothels, dirty old men preying for girls on the road, prejudiced cowboys, the hard choices of Rose the retired prostitute friend of Joe and the racial and sexual tension between Ruby Jean and Joe are all subtly but clearly recognized and aptly treated. Both characters are a little naive, honest, decent people dealing with life changing decisions who are lucky enough to find each other to help ease the transition. Ruby Jean is the perfect counter balance of freshness, intelligence and goodness to the embittered and stubborn cowboy with an above-average education, a good heart and an alcohol problem. Rebekah Johnson is a natural as Ruby Jean and Tom Selleck understated performance is the best one I have seen of him. The fact that they don't have sex during their last night together could make you feel that the story is a little bit incomplete but given the platonic mood throughout it is not only coherent but it adds a bittersweet charm to the end of the movie. When Joe explains, in one the last scenes, their emotional farewell to the puzzled bus driver he is jokingly admitting the impossibility of their romance. Joe could most likely be Ruby Jean's father than her lover.

This is a simple, endearing film that really hits home. Most people have been at an important crossroads at least once in their lives and know what it means to have someone there whose love can help you make decisions that might be harder, but in the long run, will be easier to live with. Everyone feels like Joe does in this film at least once in a lifetime. If we could all have a Ruby Jean in our lives, the world would be a better place. At first, you might think that the girl who plays Ruby Jean is doing a terrible acting job, but by the end of the film, you'll realize she was perfect for what they were trying to accomplish with the character. She's innocuous, intelligent, pure, and effervescent; and what appears to be a haphazard approach turns out to be perfect. Also, this might be my favorite Selleck role, and I've seen most of his films. He has moments of total perfection, particularly the scene where Ruby Jean confronts him about his drinking and the scene where he finally puts his roping horse out to pasture -- understated and elegant acting.