#riding faith

[horsefilmsrated]

Film Review: Hope Ranch (2020)

Alternate name: Riding Faith

Language: English

Date watched: 29 April 2023

Main horse actors: "Fancy" as "Faith"

Trope count: 9/25

Summary: Grace and her parents move from a small city apartment to a beautiful ranch in the countryside to rear cattle. Her father gifts her a horse he names "Faith" - "so you never lose faith". Then he goes off to war and dies, Grace begins to lose her faith in god and her mother realises that without her husband, she has no income and no way to keep the ranch that they promised would be their forever home. This film follows them as they attempt to raise money to keep their home.

In my opinion, this was just a terrible film. The acting was poor and over the top, there were abrupt and inconsistent transitions between scenes, and there was too much focus on faith and prayer instead of the characters actually making good decisions. It did have some nice cinematography and a beautiful horse, but that didn't really make up for the shortfalls.

The moral seemed to be: don't worry about making good decisions and thinking critically; just pray, and God will sort it all out for you.

---Spoilers beyond this point---

The main thing that drives the plot of this film is the bankruptcy that Grace and her mother struggle with after the death of Grace's father. The reason they're struggling? As soon as he dies, Grace's mother sells all the cattle on the ranch, which was the one thing making them money. So of course they then can't afford to pay the bills any more. As the bills start to pile up and calls from the bank roll in, Grace's mother ignores them and turns to prayer instead. Her pastor urges her to keep hope and faith and to "fight for your home".

Then the bank calls - again - and tells them that they'll be foreclosing the ranch imminently if they don't get what they're owed. Finally, Grace's mum is spurred into action. But instead of, say, getting a job, moving to a smaller home, or finding some use for the ranch that would make them money again, Grace's mum decides that she and Grace should just sell most of their possessions (because that's a sustainable option). They fill their front yard with all the junk they don't want in what they call an "estate sale" but really it's just a garage sale. Even after selling their car, old lamps, unwanted books and the dead dad's old army uniform and leaving their house almost completely bare, they still don't have enough money to pay off what they owe the bank. Shocker!

You should know what comes next in a horse film where poverty is a main theme: the horse has to go. Despite knowing that this horse is the single most important thing in the world to her daughter - the horse her dead father gave her - when a mysterious stranger turns up at her door and asks to buy Faith, the mother agrees. As they load up the mare, Grace comes flying out, shrieking for her companion. "Is selling her even enough money to pay off the bank?" she bellows at her mother. "No it's not but this, with the other money, it can pay back some of it, and maybe I can call the bank and negotiate" her mother wails back. "Maybe? MAYBE?" shrieks Grace. And she's got a point. What is the end game here? To sell literally everything you own and love - breaking your daughter's heart in the process - for what? To potentially earn enough to live on a completely empty ranch with absolutely no money left? Why? In what world does this make any sense at all?

When Grace's dad first dies, she loses her faith in god. Her mum, love interest and pastor all refuse to accept this and keep pressuring her throughout the film to start praying again and come back to church. Well, apparently losing her horse was the impetus Grace needed to turn back to religion. That night she kneels by her bed and prays, and in the morning, she joins her delighted mother at church, after - and this infuriated me - apologising for her behaviour the previous night. Does the mother apologise back for selling her beloved horse? No, of course not. But she very graciously forgives her daughter. I was exceedingly grateful that the film was nearly over at this point.

When they get to church, the pastor goes on a bit about charity and then calls Grace's mum up. "You prayed for a miracle", he says, and hands her an envelope. She opens it to find a check - money donated by the congregation - which is apparently enough to pay off the mortgage on the ranch. Not sure why they couldn't have donated the money a bit earlier, but whatever.

The mysterious stranger brings Faith the horse back home (of course), and then - in the last 7 minutes of the film - they realise that they need some kind of income to keep living on the ranch, at which point Grace suggests that they turn it into a riding camp. What a great idea! If the film had started with that, it might have been a decent one.

As it stands, this film really has very little going for it. There are definitely better horse films out there, and I'm sure there are better Christian films too. Don't waste your time or money on this one.

[arthursfuckinghat]

"Faith, Arthur.. Have faith"

[saltpepperbeard]

no because really, i think stede is operating in a way he thinks will win him respect. i think he's operating in a way he thinks is the expectation. i don't think he likes it, and i don't think it's "him," but i think he enjoys the positive reinforcement from everyone around him. he's literally never had that before in his life.

he was bullied as a child for what he enjoyed. he was cast aside by his father for being himself. the crew threatened to mutiny against him or even just flat-out kill him because he was too "weak."

and here he is trying to pull himself up out of maelstrom of mistakes. "he's been a failure his whole life." he's trying to do everything he can to rectify that. he wants to be the lighthouse for his crew. he wants to be a good captain. he wants to be a good pirate. he wants to be a good lover. he wants to be something.

and he was actually getting there himself--he just didn't realize it. listening to his crew more, showing them kindness, leading them when they were lost and had no place to go, putting his own grief on hold and taking back the revenge...

he was getting there! but still, he was surrounded by those haunting expectations, by the fear that it wasn't enough.

the whole conversation between he and ed where ed is encouraging him to command respect/be tougher. the whole conversation between he and izzy where izzy says he's "never met anyone with a total lack of skills." zheng saying that she didn't "conquer china by letting people go on and on about their feelings."

not to mention the goading from ned. "once you kill me, you're a real pirate. you're not an amateur." "see? that's why he likes you. your bumbling amateur status."

it all keeps swimming circles around him, looming above his head like a shadow.

he thinks he has something more to prove. he thinks he has to be more. even though his own methods work, like ned's crew turning on him simply because stede showed kindness and understanding, all these phantoms keep telling him it isn't enough and that the other methods are more effective.

because he kills, and looks visibly shaken by it, but his crew cheers. he grabs ed by the collar despite them wanting to take things slow, and they grow intimate. he walks into jackie'z after it all, a place where he was previously banished from, and is treated like a sort of pirate hero.

it's not him. "we don't just banish people, do we? that's not us."

but it's encouraged. it's celebrated. so he thinks it should be.

[lavender-rroses]

// jrwi riptide 111 + nerdy prudes must die (??) spoilers

i’m eating well this weekend

[suntails]

⚔️🍎

[satyrradio]

Truffle Queer (or Trufflequeer)

A blankqueer stance that understands it's pretty much impossible to change peoples' minds over the internet, so why not have some fun with the idiots and haters? Trufflequeer is pro trolling in defense. Trufflequeer promotes trolling in defense against harassment as a way to waste the time of the harasser while not allowing oneself to get worked up.

It is pro:

Good faith identities

Intersectional feminism

Atypical dysphoria awareness

Sex positivity

Choice

History learning

Bodily autonomy

Freedom of speech, not freedom from criticism

Binary abolition

NeoAGABs

Alterhumanity

Trolling as an act of defense

Freaks

Weirdos

Hyenas

It is anti:

PRATs

Offensive, insensitive, and hateful transID

Contact

Gatekeeping

Bigotry

Harassment

TERFs (trans exclusionary radfem)

TIRFs (trans inclusive radfem)

TURFs (golf courses)

Capitalism

Anything not listed is up to the individual👍

Edit: remembered that ppl love emoji codes so the one for this one is 🩵🤎

[alnst-hyunaluka]

Also, as a woc myself, can I ask from this fandom that unless confirmed by canon, can we not shove the one dark-skinned, disabled, female character into the "only allowed to feel selfless love for humanity or/and platonic love for her deceased brother" corner? Pretty please?

[slashrabbitbunny]

Big Blue and the Wolf Leader ❤️🐰❤️

[accio-victuuri]

source: 一滩欧鹿

[watermel0ns-dumb-cringe]

School doodles as I'm playing fnaf irl in the library via phone in book I've read 10 times

[myanxietydemonaretootired]

Faith: *with a cowboy hat* save a horse, ride a cowgirl

Buffy:

Faith: Muu

[asteroidaffection]

a moment’s silence when my baby puts her mouth on me

[cotton-candy-jester]

My headcanon is when Syd is at high love and wants to confess, they get words of encouragement from Sirris. He doesn't know who they're confessing to, but he's a proud parent nonetheless.

[eyeballsoup7310]

I think Amy Martin and Jane Doe would get along well

[neixins]

as funny as i think it would be for hak and su-won to be sitting around the crest, head in hands because none of their ideas are working, only for yona to suddenly pop out with the dragons in tow like “hi guys i fixed everything :)” i do think the interpretation of hak and su-won as the sword and the shield is starting to hold more weight now, especially considering ik-su’s comment in ch 43 about how it’ll take a while for the sword and shield to appear (i.e. reconcile and be able to work together)

[nana-glass-chillhop-radio-hour]

the gossip at the Grace must have been fucking crazyyyyyyyy