As rumors of gold in California spread across the United States in 1848, Levi decides it is time to head west with Amelia, his young housewife, to stake their claim and build a better life. Against her better judgment, Amelia honors her husband’s demands, leaving her home and family. Secretly, they join the last wagon caravan of the season dangerously late, leaving behind a string of bad debts. On the trail, they encounter unimaginable danger that will ultimately change the course of their lives.
After a savage attack takes her husband, Amelia is left alone and without resources. For the first time, Amelia must take life into her own hands, battling winter, hunger, and the unknown. As she grows weaker by the day, she finds strength in a mysterious and unexpected guide. Survival becomes a race against time and Amelia must find something greater than herself to help survive the frigid winter along the Oregon Trail.
Winner of "Best Feature" and "Best Actress" at the 2013 Breckenridge Film Festival.
Official selection at the 2013 Gideon Film Festival. Earned the Dove “Family-Approved” Seal for any age.
Let God (AKA The Trail), written and directed by William Parker, has beautiful cinematography and the acting is very good. Yet there are a couple of things that don't quite make sense to me. Some of it was within the storyline, but I could throw in my own reasoning and let it go...for most of it. The issue I struggled with the most, though, was how remarkably CLEAN Amelia (Jasmin Jandreau) stayed throughout the film. I am not one who enjoys graphic visuals of all details, but a drop of sweat or smear of dirt would have been reasonable. The cold did not seem to bother her a whole lot either---no shivering nor condensation. Unfortunately, I can get hung up on details like that. I also had to accept some some of the parts were meant more as symbolism, and not to be taken at face value.
However, it just meant that I watched the film again and ignored the little things that probably only distracted me. It is a strong story of someone who faced life head on and persevered. She did struggle to do it on her own, but many of us are guilty of that. When she finally did Let Go...and Let God, she learned that while the journey remained tough, she was not alone. There were hardships, but also unexpected blessings to lighten her load. As I mentioned, I had a few areas where the story just did not make a lot of sense, but it is a fairly good film. The scene stealer for me was Amelia's mysterious companion (Shannon Brown); he spoke very little, but my attention was drawn to him in each scene he appeared in. The most positive part of the film is the transformation of Amelia from a meek female who merely went through the motions of life and faith. The more she leaned on God and trusted Him, the stronger she became and her faith became real. The transformation was worth the journey. This is a good family film.
Disclaimer: I received a copy of this dvd from Word Entertainment and Edify Media in exchange for a fair and honest review.
2 comments:
Hi Cindy. I appreciate your kindness toward this film. I sat through it and thought, apart from the cinematography and soundtrack, which were both gorgeous, nothing else worked for me. Mostly just a poorly written script (and inattention to details, such as having zippers in the heroine's dresses and boots).
This is not one I would recommend to most of my friends, but I do know people who can overlook the things that drove me crazy. I really wanted to like it.
The possibility of hurting someone's feelings is the reason I could never be a professional critic. :)
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