Sunday, March 23, 2014

Movie Review: Civil Love

Title: Civil Love
Author: N/A
Genre: period drama, romance, civil war, family
My Rating: **
Official Rating: PG
Age Group: 8+
Summary: Rachel's husband died in the war and it's all she can do to keep the homestead running and her children safe. When her brother-in-law comes around hinting at marriage, she refuses on the grounds of not loving him, though she badly needs the assistance in the home.
Then an escaped Confederate soldier shows up in her barn, badly wounded and close to death. Rachel does what she says is the Christian thing to do and tends to his wound. As he recovers, things become confusing for Rachel, her two children, and Daniel, the man they are hiding from a marshal.

Word of Warning
  • People are shot at. Daniel is shot in the abdomen and we see blood on his shirt, hands, and body, as well as a quick glimpse at the wound (which is so bloody we don't seen anything at all). Another man is shot in the shoulder but no blood is seen. Both these instances are almost under-dramatized (not a word, but I believe it's possible to understand my point).
  • Daniel was held prisoner but escaped because he probably wouldn't have lived to the end of the war (so he says) if he'd stayed. During escape, authorities are killed and so are all his friends.
  • Rachel hides Daniel from the law.
  • Three or four kisses.
  • Men get pushed about, kicked, punched, and hit with chairs.
  • Rachel rides into trouble more than once to save Daniel.
  • Daniel is being hunted by two men who will stop at nothing to kill him.
  • Daniel sleeps in the barn, not the house, even when Rachel and her children decide to trust him. She says it wouldn't feel right for him to be in the house, and he agrees. He does spend one feverish night in the house before this decision, however, it's not all that problematic as he lies on the floor in a fever-induced sleep and is completely unaware of anything.
  • Attempted robbery.
My Thoughts
All things considered, it was a decent film. I admit the acting drove me up a wall, but then again the last film I saw had some very talented actors in it so my judgment might be skewed a little. It's a sweet story of a woman falling in love with a man she viewed as her enemy (ahem, yes, I spoiled it. What, you didn't see that coming?). The best part, in my opinion, is the way this comes about. In gratitude for her kindness, Daniel begins to do little random acts of kindness like helping her son chop wood, doing the dishes, working in the barn, etc. It's these acts that grow on Rachel and show her what kind of man he really is. There is no big romantic moment where he confesses his feelings, no scenes where one of them is trying desperately for the other to notice as in most romances, just peaceful gentle but utterly strong love.
Huh. Kind of like the real world. Imagine that.

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