Product Description

Based on Janette Oke's best-selling book series, and directed by Michael Landon Jr., Loves Comes Softly is inspired story-telling for the whole family. Marty and Aaron Claridge (Katherine Heigl and Oliver Macready) travel west in search of new opportunity. But when tragedy strikes and Marty is suddenly widowed, the young woman must face the rugged terrain, bleak weather, and life among strangers-alone. That is until a handsome widower named Clark Davis ( Dale Midkiff) suggests a platonic "marriage of convenience" until Marty can return home. As the months pass, through, Marty and Clark discover an unexpected new love where there was once only loss.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #10670 in DVD
• Brand: HEIGL,KATHERINE
• Released on: 2004-09-14
• Rating: Unrated
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, Full Screen, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: English, Spanish
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 84 minutes

Amazon.com
Writer/director Michael Landon Jr. continues in his famous father's footsteps by creating moral family entertainment set in the early days of the American prairie. Stubborn Marty Claridge (Katherine Heigl, Grey's Anatomy) travels west with her new husband--but after they find a beautiful patch of land, her husband dies in an accident before they've even started building. A man named Clark (Dale Midkiff, Air Bud: World Pup) makes a proposal: If Marty will enter into a platonic marriage with him, he'll pay for her passage back east in the spring. What Clark needs is a mother, however temporary, for his willful tomboy daughter Missie (Skye McCole Bartusiak, Beyond the Prairie, Part 2). Missie fights Marty's presence fiercely while Clark, though supportive, speaks few words, and Marty suspects she's made a terrible mistake--but time reveals otherwise. Love Comes Softly, based on the popular Christian novel by Janette Oke, is a romance, but Landon carefully avoids any bodice-ripping histrionics. Problems get solved perhaps a little too easily, but the movie is cleanly written, pleasantly understated, and respectful to its characters. For many viewers, Love Comes Softly will be a welcome change from overheated secular love stories. --Bret Fetzer

Customer Reviews

Clean, family-friendly love story that will warm your heart!
I saw this film on the Hallmark Channel, and TIVO'd it to watch: I have since watched it a few times and will buy the DVD when it's released! Based on a novel by Christian historical fiction writer Janette Oke, "Love Comes Softly," centers on Marty, a young woman who travels West with her husband. When tragedy strikes this newly married couple, grief-striken Marty must find a way to survive the harsh land that she is surrounded by.

For those of you worried about content: this is a family-friendly film! There is no language that I can recall, no violence, and no adult themes. There is one scene where a man accidentally walks in on a woman taking a bath (nothing is shown), some squabbling between two people, and a woman preparing a live chicken for a meal, but other than that, I could not find anything objectionable.

This is a cute and family-friendly story, that promotes the themes of morality, love, honor, courage, faith, etc.

God Works in Mysterious Ways
"Love Comes Softly," based on a Janette Oke novel, is a heartwarming 19th century tale that will use up several hankies. Marty and her husband travel west, searching for the perfect place to raise a family; when her husband has a fatal accident, Marty finds herself alone, with winter coming, and with no way of getting home. She enters into a marriage of convenience, and faces many trials as she gets used to her new environment and the strangers in her life.

Katherine Heigl is lovely as Marty, and Dale Midkiff excellent as Clark, the older, strong Christian man she marries. As his daughter Missie, Skye McCole Bartusian is an exceptional little actress, and in smaller parts, Theresa Russell and Corbin Bensen are terrific as the kind of stalwart people that pioneered this nation. Written and directed by Michael Landon Jr. for Hallmark, this is a way above average film made for the small screen, with endearing characters, and spectacular scenery, shot on location in El Dorado County, California, by cinematographer James Wrenn.

A scene that is memorable is when Clark takes Marty to his "church," a bench that faces a beautiful view, and explains his faith to her. It is so well written, and truly the core of this award-winning film. Total running time is 88 minutes, and the DVD gives one the option of full screen or widescreen. A sequel was made to this story, "Love's Enduring Promise," in 2004.
"The truth of God's love is not that He allows bad things to happen; it's His promise He'll be there with us, when they do."

love comes softly,
This was the most refreshing love story that I have seen in a very long time. I don't know when I have enjoyed a movie as much. I have viewed it 3 times and wait anxiously to see it again with my friend. The story line was just excellent, a woman who lost all her dreams and a man with such a tender heart. No sex, no violence, no cursing, just pure and refreshing. Wow. I thouroughly enjoyed this lovely film.