A charming but predictable contemporary western drama, minus the schmaltz that mars many Hallmark productions. Headstrong and entrepreneurial Jake (Jennie Garth) left her childhood home on a Texas ranch eight years earlier, but returns to attend her grandfather's funeral. Jake inherits the ranch, along with its massive debt, accrued over years of staying in the failing cattle business. Not only must she stave off collectors from the bank and eager prospectors waiting for her to cave in, but she must also find a way to convince her equally stubborn and estranged father, Will (Lance Henrikson) — who's been overseeing the estate in her absence — to convert the ranch into a horse-training stable and equine rehabilitation center. Tension between Jake and Will, whom she blames for allowing her mother to die, are as high now as when she ran off to California, where she successfully bred racing horses and raised a son as a single mother. Now, confronted with the possibility of losing the family land and stuck with a headstrong father hell-bent on upholding antiquated cowboy traditions, Jake has few options. Hesitant to accept help from anyone — even trusted farmhand Amos (M.C. Gainey), who tries to mend Jake's broken relationship with her father, and her training partner, Morgan (Bradley Cooper), in whom Jake has a reluctant romantic interest — the ranch is beset by another disaster before Jake gets a chance to do anything about it. The resolution is predictable and the characters cliched, but Henrikson and Garth have an excellent contentionious dynamic as a father and daughter who are all-too-similar and butt heads because of it, while Gainey provides comic relief as the slightly oafish but endearing good ol' boy with a thing for foot massages. The movie has its share of saccharine, forced exchanges ("Family is all that matters!"), but for the most part it goes easy on the hokey dialogue. The film's core lies in its unabashed wholesome message of family, faith and love, which it delivers without being too heavy-handed about it. --Andria Lam
