Lucky’s Treasure (Movie Review)

Plot Summary

May Landis knows there’s a coin hidden somewhere on her property, and she spends her life looking for it, much to the chagrin of her husband, Henry.  However, one day, May is sure she has found it, but she pays for it dearly.  Henry is sent into depression and drinking following his wife’s untimely death and is reluctant to take in his granddaughter Emily when she comes to live with him to go to college, but he agrees if she will take care of May’s horse Lucky.  Then Emily starts searching for the coin, even though there are also ‘bad guys’ searching for it.  Will they ever be able to find it in time?

 

Production Quality (1 point)

When compared to his past projects, Saving Winston and Camp Harlow, Shane Hawks’ production quality has somewhat increased.  However, the production of this film is still not up to industry standard.  Video quality and camera work are professional, but audio quality is lacking, especially in outside scenes.  The soundtrack is also very stock.  There are too many musical montages that waste time.  However, sets and locations are clearly given thought.  Yet editing is almost nonexistent as lots of useless content is included.  In the end, though Lucky’s Treasure looks better than past films, it’s still not there yet.

Plot and Storyline Quality (0 points)

If you could think of the most stereotypical and juvenile plot premise that involves a horse, a girl, a ranch hand, a treasure, and some ridiculous villains, then it would be Lucky’s Treasure.  Though it is Shane Hawks’ most complex plot (not saying much), its presentation is very disingenuous and lackadaisical.  Time is spent on the most childish things, like the cheesiest high school college romance since Barbie and Ken.  Every character fits into the most plastic mold you can think of—dialogue (the parts you can understand) sounds like it’s been bought from a stock dialogue company.  Things happen because they need to as time is filled with montages, romance stuff, activities of daily living, vague treasure hunt concepts, and lectures on French history.  With no real direction or purpose, Lucky’s Treasure (the horse is actually fairly insignificant) meanders along a predictable progression until time runs out.  Basically, this storyline is so stereotypical and stock that it in no way warrants creation.

Acting Quality (0 points)

With perhaps the most thrown-together cast ever, Lucky’s Treasure just keeps getting better and better.  The cast members post very awkward and unsure performances.  Some lines are mumbled while others seem phoned in.  Some are overplayed while others are underplayed.  The costuming is also atrocious.  Unfortunately, it’s hard to believe that any time was spent on this portion.

Conclusion

It’s noble that Shane Hawks and his team want to keep making movies.  They have the rare opportunity to do something great with the resources and platform they have been provided.  But they are utterly wasting it.  Our advice at this point for Hawks and company would be to stop trying to write plots and focus on directing and producing.  Find a better writer and get some help with your casting and coaching.  At the very least, do the best you can with what you have, because this is by far not the best you can do.

 

Final Rating: 1 out of 10 points

 

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May 26, 2017January 8, 2019 by Box Office Revolutionary Categories: Animals & Pets, Inspirational, Movie ReviewsTags: 1 point, 2017, AJ Olson, Alison Kotila, Brenda McGinnis, Carey Scott, Carrie Hawks, Claire Hutchinson, Deborah Tucker, Delaney, Grace Alone Films, Horse, Horse and His Girl series, Inspirational, Jaira Chaffee, JT Neal, Kerry Lynne McHugh, Lauren Taylor, Michael Ironside, Mike Hawkins, Nick Forrest, PureFlix, Ryan Gregg, Shane Hawks, Tommy Blaze, Will Musser 1 Comment

Saving Winston (Movie Review)

Plot Summary

When she is left behind by her partners in crime, Ashley is caught by the police and arrested following a break-in she assisted with.  After being released from juvenile detention, she is assigned to kinship care under her Aunt Diane.  Ashley’s aunt hopes to provide a structured atmosphere on her horse farm for the troubled teen and hopes to lead her to faith in Christ.  But as Ashley’s past keeps calling her back, Diane finds herself at the end of her rope.  That is, until Ashley grows close to a struggling horse on a neighboring property and tries to nurse him back to health.  Little do Ashley and Diane know that healing can come from unexpected places.

 

Production Quality (0 points)

Ugh.  That pretty much describes this production.  It looks like it was filmed with a camcorder, sometimes shaking around in someone’s hand, sometimes on a tripod, and sometimes sat on a table some distance away.  More often than not, characters are cut out of the shot or are only partially in the shot since there is obviously no adjustable camera equipment.  Other camcorder qualities include tinny sound and grainy video.  There are lots of wasted ‘artistic’ shots of leaves, grass, and trees, accompanied by clanky piano music.  The sets and locations are basically people’s backyards and living rooms—not that there’s anything wrong with this, but they’re not utilized properly.  In short, Saving Winston is extremely and obviously cheap; no professionalism is exhibited here.

Plot and Storyline Quality (0 points)

So, what exactly is the plot here?  Why does this plot even center around a horse that gets less than 50% screen time?  It seems like there could have been an interesting plot about juvenile delinquency issues, but there is just nothing here.  The characters are hollow, fueled by lifeless dialogue.  With so few characters, excellent dialogue is needed, but not received.  The aunt character, who is supposed to be the Christian guide of the plot, comes off as abrasive and rude.  Saving Winston just boils down to a collection of scenes depicting people driving around, working with horses, doing Bible studies, and having juvenile arguments.  Box Office Revolution has never reviewed such an empty plot.

Acting Quality (0 points)

This very small cast was neither given good coaching nor interesting lines to work with.  Victoria Emmons has demonstrated the ability to act better in other movies, but not this one, probably due better crews in other films.  In Winston, line delivery is either forced or mumbled and emotional delivery is borderline comedic.  Unfortunately, there is once again nothing good to highlight here.

Conclusion

Everyone has meager beginnings, but it doesn’t have to be this bad.  Winston should have been a short film that concisely and clearly communicated its intended point.  Many new filmmakers have used short films to begin their careers; Shane Hawks could have easily done this and saved time and money.  As it is, Saving Winston made no impact on the market accept to further tarnish the reputation of Christian films.

 

Final Rating: 0 out of 10 points

 

February 20, 2016January 18, 2019 by Box Office Revolutionary Categories: Animals & Pets, Drama, Inspirational, Movie ReviewsTags: 0 points, 2011, A Few Good Samaritans Productions, Alison Kotila, Austin Kearney, Carrie Hawks, David Nevue, Diesel Engine Knocking, Horse, Horse and His Girl series, Inspirational, Jodi Johnson, Joshua T. Hardcastle, Kail Harbick, Meghan McCabe-Habrat, Mike Hawkins, Miley Stockton, Mona Leigh, PureFlix, Shane Hawks, Tara Brown, Victoria Emmons 6 Comments

Camp Harlow (Movie Review)

Plot Summary

Alex likes being a bully because of the status it brings her in her circle of friends.  What her victims never see is the broken home she lives in and how miserable she is on the inside.  Restless because of the approaching summer, Alex takes up the offer of a boy she likes to go to a high-end summer camp, not knowing that it is Christian based.  When she arrives, she is resistant to the love of the counselors there, but she soon feels her walls cracking as she comes to grips with the person she really is.

 

Production Quality (1 point)

The production quality of Camp Harlow is basically inconsistent.  The video quality is mostly clear, but the camera angles are all over the place.  There are several long segments of musical montages, which seem to cover up a low budget production, such as poor microphone work and lack of dialogue.  The editing is straightforward, likely because there is just not much content here.  There are a lot of wasted scenes involving characters that are rarely focused on; some seem to be overt advertisements for the actual Camp Harlow.  In other words, though the video is clear, there is not much else to say.

Plot and Storyline Quality (1 point)

The idea behind the plot is intriguing and noteworthy, but there is simply not enough content to sustain the movie.  Thus, there is a lot of filler content, such as procedural camp activities and forced dialogue.  Because most of the dialogue is very wooden and awkward, the characters are mostly not developed well.  The only positive elements here is the character arc of Alex.  It is realistic that bullies often have broken home lives and therefore project their pain on other people.  This truth was at least portrayed in Camp Harlow.  Unfortunately, the surrounding negative factors drown this out.

Acting Quality (1 point)

AJ Olson is good in her debut, but she may be the only good actor in this cast.  The other actors appear to be either forcing their lines or just going through the motions.  It seems like some of them could be better if they were coached differently.  At this point, Box Office Revolution wonders if PureFlix ever has acting coaches.

Conclusion

In an attempt to be meaningful, Camp Harlow comes off as preachy without anything to back it up.  No one respects a low quality movie unless it shows a lot of promise and had a very small budget.  The important intended message of Camp Harlow is lost, in keeping with the themes of most PureFlix movies.  There is more to making a great movie than just upgrading camera quality, even though this is a good start.

 

Final Rating: 3 out of 10 points

 

January 29, 2016January 18, 2019 by Box Office Revolutionary Categories: Animals & Pets, Inspirational, Movie ReviewsTags: 2014, 3 points, Abigail West, Adam Thomas, AJ Olson, Alison Kotila, Andrew Dyer, Carmen Shelton, Carrie Hawks, Claire Lehnert, Clara Riordan, Emma Johnson, Grace Alone Films, Horse, Horse and His Girl series, Inspirational, Jasmin Savoy Brown, Justice Nunley, Karli Olson, Kate Young, Kyndra Morgan, Levi Bagge, Malay Johnston, Mandy Beemer, Marissa Jensen, Mike Hawkins, Monique Hurd, PureFlix, Renee Lee, Shane Hawks, Stuart G. Bennett Leave a comment