Welcome to the Teenage Years

The first Big Sky River didn’t seem to be a likely candidate for a sequel. Everyone was all sorted out with a pretty seemingly trouble-free straightforward path forward to happily ever after. Especially when a little research revealed that the book this is based on is the third and last one in the series. Now there are a few Hallmarks that would make good fodder for a sequel ( Five Star Christmas and Ghosts of Christmas Always for two) but not this one. But they do manage to eke one out.

And it manages to be quite watchable thanks to the relationship challenges between Boone and Tara and their family dynamics. Also, the kid actors were all great. There is a halfway engaging side story between Tara’s BFF, the country star,  and her former professional partner who is now divorced. Emphasis on the halfway. Most of the drama and conflict come from raging teenage hormones and fragile emotions threatening to break out and run rampant at every turn. So the stakes are pretty low in the scheme of things. “This too shall pass,” and all that, you know. Tara’s stepdaughter Erin starts the ball ruling with an overreaction to her New York-based father’s thoughtless and clumsy remark at the gender reveal party for his due in 6 weeks wife. She is nice, in this one, BTW. He bursts out with joy that he has always wanted a boy which Erin interprets as “he never wanted” her and “doesn’t love” her. Kids! AmIright? On the boy side, Boone’s 11-year-old son is struggling with the upcoming changes to his life now that his Dad is  (finally) engaged to Tara. Not prone to tantrums, unlike Erin, he shuts down and is sad remembering his dead mother and being told they will be moving out of the only home he has ever known. Unfortunately, Dad seems to just want to not deal with his pain and instead of really talking about it and paying attention, just gives lip service. The younger son, by the way, by the way, is an oasis of calm and sense throughout. Sawyer Fraser is a charmer as Fletcher. Both Boone and Tara are also not immune to missteps along “the bridal path.” Boone forgets to pick up the kids while Tara is heavily immersed in parent-teacher conferences. He has to deal with a shutdown interstate but doesn’t even call. He just forgets. Although he apologizes, he really seemed to discount Tara’s distress (much like he discounts his son’s emotions) despite saying all the right words. On Tara’s side, when Boone rightly calls Princess Erin out for screaming at him disrespectfully and for maybe being a teensy bit spoiled, she overreacts giving him the ole “don’t yell at my daughter” routine which leads to a 1 or maybe 2 day break up. (Boone had to haul her friend Dawson in before a judge for breaking the law-don’t worry it’s not that bad).

Boone and Tara maturely heal the breach, and the almost break-up brings the kids to their senses. By the end of the movie, the little family is beginning to look like the Brady Bunch of the West. The reconciliation between Boone and Erin is very satisfying. I’ve never been a particular fan of Kavan Smith, because I prefer romantic heroes to be above average in height. But I do like him much more after his authentic good-humored performance in this one. Near the end, in lines that were obviously written in, his older son remarks to him “that he is almost as tall as you” and his younger son retorts, “That’s not saying much!” Kavan Smith responds laughlingly with an “Ouch!” Good for him.