SECRET OF GIVING REVIEW

As Christmas is briskly upon us, I thought it quite fitting to return to reviewing at Cherish the West by reviewing and telling you all about one of my most favorite Christmas movies ever produced. Starring talented country singer Reba McEntire in the lead role as Rose Cameron, a recent widow who is struggling to keep her ranch alive, Secret of Giving (1999) is a perfect example of an exemplary Christmas production. It is a brilliant movie! In the past, it has aired on such television networks as UPTV, INSP, and Hallmark. View a preview of this wonderful movie here.

Starring: 

Reba McEntire as Rose Cameron

Thomas Ian Griffith as Harry Withers

Ronny Cox as Harlan Gotch

Devon Alan as Toby Cameron

PLOT

As the Christmas season approaches, Rose is faced with the possibility of losing her ranch when she is notified that a foreclosure is nigh due to her failure to make the needed payments. The bank is harsh and unrelenting and will indeed take over the home she built with her late husband if no payment is made soon. Added to her ordeal, Rose fights to keep nearby rustlers from destroying the ranch and stealing her cattle. Each day is a challenge and one that Rose will never give in to and will never give up fighting against.

While Rose struggles against the rustlers, a stranger nearby happens upon her property and is met with the wrong end of her rifle. Meaning her no harm, the stranger is met this time with Rose's reserved welcome and shelter in her own home with her ill son Toby. Yet Toby's illness does not get better, forcing her to move into town and take a job to pay for Doc Nickols's examination and other debts she has acquired in the months since. She also wills herself to entrust her ranch to the stranger so that it can be cared for. But when the stranger is injured while defending Rose's ranch against the rustler's, Harry Withers comes to know the town, its citizens, and Rose even more as he recovers. In a short time thereafter, Harry Withers begins to believe that he may have found a place to call home until his past comes back to haunt him, putting him and the love he has found in jeopardy of being lost.

MY THOUGHTS

This movie is a must-see! I know...I say that on nearly everything I review. But especially in reviewing within the category of Christmas movies, this is one of the best you'll see all season! The cinematography is well done. Each scene is pieced together masterfully. And the music which included three wonderful songs sung by Reba McEntire herself is of perfection. In portraying the 1800s Western era, the makers did a very fine job. Costuming was accurate and presented a traditional yet custom portrayal for the story they were presenting. For a television movie, Secret of Giving is superb! Five stars hands down! But I will lower to 4.5 just for a bit of mild language used.

Merry Christmas to all my readers, and I hope you'll have a chance to enjoy this wonderful movie!