Soda Springs (2012)

Soda Springs is the town that Jason Pickett hails from, but some people just aren't happy to see him return after a stretch in prison for vehicular homicide. That includes law enforcement and it includes the husband of his ex-wife who divorced him while he was in the joint.But when this would be country singer whose career was sidelined by the tragedy comes into Victoria Pratt's store it's love at first sight. Turns out the ex-wife's husband was worrying unnecessarily.Soda Springs has a nice story, but the film moves at such snail's pace you will get inpatient for the end. Not the best Hallmark romance out there though there is a nice country music score for the film.

I don't doubt that every day life in a small town in Southwestern Idaho is slow, but that doesn't mean I want to watch a movie of this depicted. The movie was supposed to be about a good man who made a mistake and needed redemption, but there is no indication that he was ever a good man. He had a reputation as a party guy and he tried to cheat on his wife.Having said that, the photography was nice. There aren't too many movies filmed in Idaho. I have always found it strange that Country-Western music almost never comes from "country" areas outside the South. Yet in this picture you see guys making country music, minus the accent. If there really are guys like this making such music in non-Southern places, why don't they make it to Nashville? This part of Idaho is both "country" and "Western." It seems that in real life the lead actor is considerably older than what he was playing. He is in his early 50's. I assumed he was supposed to be in his late 30's in the movie.I got a real kick out of seeing the bad boy played by Michael Bowen. He played the same character in Valley Girl, opposite Nicholas Cage in 1983.There was virtually no religion or God injected into this story. The guy lives in a small town, and one cop mentions church, but you never see anyone going to one. I think the main guy does go back to his jail cell to retrieve his Bible. They clearly decided not to go in that direction.I don't actually blame him for returning to his home town. Where else are you going to go, like his mother said. Home is home, even when you screw up.I don't think he ever apologizes to his wife for anything. If he did, it wasn't memorable.This picture did have redeeming qualities, not enough to save it from the bargain bin at Walmart.What I really needed to see was a little more emotion from people. There is one scene where the main guy breaks down just for a second, but it was cut short. Let it out man! Let's make a movie about real people. Even the strong, silent cowboy types let go once in a while.

This movie makes no sense until the last ten minutes. Then it becomes apparent Eden took a fall to protect the two tiny children of the woman who was behind the wheel. Her grandfather(?) knew he was getting out of prison, didn't just appear with horses. This same elder just happens to be there again when he gets out of jail, in front of the Masonic temple. The movie theme is about keeping secrets, when to tell the absolute truth would destroy two innocent children's lives. Look for Masonic symbols, you may see them, especially around the Sheriff. The movie Tombstone comes to mind as another Masonic movie, but without the obvious message Soda Springs tells so well, of a fundamentally decent man who sacrifices a good part of his life to protect women and children.

I'm not sure I can find any flaws in this movie. The acting was very good, the direction by Michael Feifer was superb. The storyline was excellent, and unlike many indie movies I watch these days, it actually had a real ending, along with a few surprise twists. The characters were interesting and likable, and the chemistry between them was believable and grabbed my attention. The Idaho scenery was stunning. And the haunting soundtrack throughout was eerily mood-evoking. Possibly the only fault I could find was that I was left wondering for 38 minutes into the movie how long Eden had been in prison. But perhaps that was by design. The song Eden sang at the end was slightly corny, but then... for an amateur redneck performing at the local honkey tonk, it was about what you'd expect, I suppose. I loved Henry Darrow's role (am I the only one who remembers Manolito from The High Chapparal series in the late 60's?), and although his scenes were brief, his presence was richly felt. I don't give 10 stars lightly, but this one definitely deserved it, IMO.