Love’s Long Journey is the third outstanding film Michael Landon, Jr. and Cindy Kelley have adapted for the screen from Janette Oke’s inspiring novels about life on the Western frontier. The first, Love Comes Softly, and the second, Love’s Enduring Promise received CAMIE awards in 2003 and 2005. Love’s Long Journey is another CAMIE winning film. This story in this film picks up with young Missy, who has married an enterprising young man named Willie, who has worked and saved enough to buy enough land and cattle to start a business in ranching. The cabin that comes with the property is a disaster, but what the place looked like, wasn’t all that important to them, at the time. And even though there are huge differences in circumstances on the Western frontier to life today, young couples, and older ones, will see examples in this story about handling hardships and difficulties. Logan Bartholomew returns from Love’s Enduring Promise to play the young rancher, Willie, in a very believable way. Missy is now played very nicely by Erin Cottrell, following a very young Missy played by Skye McCole Bartusiak in Love Comes Softly and by January Jones in Love’s Enduring Promise. In each case, Missy, who has been a central figure in the stories as she has grown-up, has been played excellently, with Erin filling the role very nicely. Two-time CAMIE-winner, Dale Midkiff, returns to play in a cameo role in this film as Missy’s father, Clark Davis. This time, Katherine Heigl, who played Missy’s step-mom, Marty, in the first two films, isn’t a part of this sequel that focuses on the young couple as they set out on their own. You’ll probably enjoy the character acting of some of Willy’s newly hired ranch hands, and probably won’t like the bad guys who could have been more believable. But, once again, Hallmark Entertainment, the Hallmark Channel, Larry Levinson productions, and Michael Landon have put together an uplifting motion picture, made for television, followed by release on DVD, that can be enjoyed by the entire family. There is a shooting that results in a death, but this is portrayed without the gratuitous violence we see so often on the screen today. But much more importantly, this story is about how with love, hard work, faith, and prayers, life’s challenges can be faced and overcome. And remember when you used to watch a movie and the positive things about the story made you feel like you wanted to be a better person? Well, this is that kind of uplifting story. You’ll feel good when it’s over and the credits are rolling—and as you think about it after that. Incidentally, Michael Landon, Jr. has just released the fourth film in this series, Love’s Abiding Joy, which is currently in theatres. We look forward to it's television premiere on The Hallmark Channel later this year. Click here to read the moviepicks interview with Janette Oke, author of the Love Comes Softly series.
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