Plot Summary
Melinda was always told that she was an illegitimate child. Her mother is superstitious and has a secret she is trying to hide as she is under the thumb of the ruthless Maddox, Melinda’s stepfather. When Maddox sends Melinda away to Melinda’s grandmother, Melinda sees a whole new outlook on life, including insights into who her father really is. She discovers that everyone in the small western town of Boonville is hiding a secret, and only courage and faith will help them to disclose what they need to disclose.
Production Quality (2 point)
Since there is a lot of mainstream experience on the production team, the production of Boonville Redemption is understandably professional. Video quality, camera work, and audio quality are all what they should be. The soundtrack is pedestrian, but the sets and locations are historically realistic. The biggest errors to highlight here pertain to editing, as there are a lot of abrupt transitions and choppy sequences. There is too much content that has been crammed into the 100-minute runtime of this film. Basically, this film is professional on the surface, yet it lacks the necessary substance to be any better than it is.
Plot and Storyline Quality (0 points)
Though Boonville Redemption attempts to explore a unique plot style and genre, it does so in all the wrong ways. Constant narration from the unnecessarily omniscient Pat Boone doesn’t leave anything to chance and makes sure the ending is obvious in the beginning. Pretty much every character is a cheesy stereotype, especially the ridiculously monologuing villain. The characters that have potential to be good are barely given any screen time, probably due to the large number of characters in general. Though there is a lot of content, as previously mentioned, time is frivolously wasted on very unnecessary sequences. Any good parts are very rushed and are drowned out by too many quirky elements. Everything culminates in a gag-inducing “it’s my diary” climax sequence that really just puts the icing on this rotten cake. Unfortunately, while this could have been a creative and interesting story, it falls very much short of expectations.
Acting Quality (2 points)
The good news is historical costuming is realistic, although there are some minor shades of Michael Landon Jr. frontier makeovers present. The acting is mostly professional with only some minor errors, such as some overly dramatic moments. If Edward Asner, Richard Tyson, and Pat Boone were removed from this cast, it would have been perfect. But at least this casting job is somewhat palatable.
Conclusion
Boonville Redemption demonstrates mainstream professionalism in the production and acting departments, but the plot severely suffers from lack of creativity and forceful delivery. Throwing a bunch of big name cast members into a well-funded production does not equal a good movie. The story seems like it had too many writers in the story room, but that isn’t really the case. Essentially, writers need to trust their audiences to figure things out rather than have Pat Boone tell them what to think about stuff. Also, the last thing we needed was the Pat Boone credits number, but who really cares at this point?
Final Rating: 4 out of 10 points
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