VeteranLight I don't have all the words right now but this film is a work of art.

UnowPriceless hyped garbage

Teringer An Exercise In Nonsense

Catangro After playing with our expectations, this turns out to be a very different sort of film.

orlandoblooms-140-414927 This movie is ridiculous. 1 I have seen Pinto COLORED horses in the Hunter Ring. Not all hunters are Thoroughbreds. You need better trainers too! Heels were not down and they consistently hit the horses in their mouth with the bit by not releasing their hands over the fences. They didn't go into two point, were not moving with the horses' head at the canter and even locked up their arms when coming into the fence. The main character wasn't on the correct diagonal when trotting either. By the way there's no way someone is going to learn and show a 3ft hunter course in 1 mth without having any jumping experience. That's utter nonsense. Get better trainers the next time you wish to produce a horse movie like this so you can get the actors better equitation. Also rubber boots would not be allowed in a hunter ring either since they are not acceptable show boots. They're muck/field boots. She would not have won with those on since they get judged on appearance as well as equitation.

SnoopyStyle It's the start of summer. Moondance Alexander (Kay Panabaker) is the school outcast whose yearbook nobody wants to sign. She talks to her father's grave. Her eccentric artist mother Gelsey (Lori Loughlin) doesn't really understand. Then she finds a horse by the side of the road and names him Checkers. The horse is returned to Tumbleweed Stables and the grumpy Dante Longpre (Don Johnson). The horse is actually named Tinkerbell. Moondance exchanges work for riding the horse. All the girls are mean but popular Josh might just like her especially when Josh's dad starts dating Moondance's mom. Moondance thinks Checkers might be a good jumper and enters her into the Bow Valley Classic against all the mean girls.This is a super sweet unsurprising cliché-filled family movie. I don't necessarily think there's anything wrong with that as long as it's done well. Don Johnson has the grumpy weary guy well in hand. Lori Loughlin could have been more flaky. At least she doesn't really fit the part. It's the super cute Kay Panabaker that makes this work. She's all hyper energy and willful joy. She is spunky enough to fill the whole movie with her energy. She is also a good enough actress to do the emotional moments too.

WakenPayne Why did I want to see this movie? Your guess is as good as mine. I guess that I really want to review things and just watch any movie chosen out of a hypothetical hat just so I can review it regardless. Is this movie about horses worthwhile family entertainment? In my eyes it can be.The plot is that Moondance Alexander (Kay Panabaker) is a 14 year old girl who has trouble fitting in and has to cope with the death of her father. She has a part time job delivering supplies to stables and on the way to her latest delivery she finds a horse who escaped from their stable and they form an instant connection. After the horse is returned she proposes a deal with the owner of the stable, Dante Longpre (Don Johnson), she will work for him over the summer break and she can ride the horse, who she named Checkers. Over time, Moondance (Who names their child Moondance?) bonds with the horse. After finding out Dante was a pretty good horse jumper (I hope that's a correct term!) in his day, she decides to enter Checkers in a contest for jumping horses.So what is there to complain about with this movie? How about THE SOUNDTRACK! I mean every other complaint that will be brought up in this review was at least tolerable but the guy who did the music seemed to have the song selection be from EVERY SINGLE LIVE ACTION KIDS FILM OVER THE PAST 10 YEARS. 10 minutes in and it annoyed the crap out of me. It even broke the ice in what was intended to be the most emotional scene in the movie.Another complaint I have with this movie is that Moondance should have been shown grieving over her father's death just a bit more. I know it's meant to be for kids but the scenes where this does happen are too few and far between in this movie.Aside from that everything to complain about is minor. I mean yes - the movie is predictable, yes - the characters intended to annoy succeed beyond their wildest dreams, yes - the story and plot points are slightly contrived. I really don't see a major problem in them because once taken away, this movie can stand on it's own pretty well.Aside from that, I'll go for the compliments. Kay Panabaker can act really really well. Everyone does a decent job (in some cases you have to consider the material they were given - for example the villains) but Panabaker was the stand out.I also like the message of this movie. Basically the message is "be yourself and overcome your obstacles". I know what you're thinking "In your previous review you criticised something for having an unoriginal message, what makes this so different?" The answer is that in my opinion this actually gets the message across in a fresh way that isn't contrived.So aside from those 2 I did enjoy the directing and the writing (although that does get a little weak around the end). They do a good job here getting a rather contrived story about inspiration and the odds being against the heroes but coming out on top while still keeping it fresh.So would I recommend this movie as family entertainment? Yes. I am not in the target audience for this movie (I'm a 17 year old boy) and I found something in it that was complimentary. So if you want some family entertainment for your child (I know I shouldn't be stereotyping but preferably female) which you can also enjoy then pick up Moondance Alexander. For a person like me, call it a guilty pleasure.

aimless-46 "Saddle Club" meets "Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen" and "Bratz", as the prettiest friendless teenage girl in cinema history goes up against her "Queen Bee" nemesis in a local equestrian competition. Throw in a little "Pollyanna" here for good measure as the friendless girl manages to inspire the adults in her town to lead better lives. Kay Panabaker plays the friendless girl (Moondance Alexander), and Kay is so pretty she makes figure skater turned aspiring actress Sasha Cohen look rather plain by comparison. And Kay is a polished enough actress with enough effortless charm to almost make this film work. Unfortunately she is saddled (pun intended) with one of the worst written scripts you are likely to ever encounter. The best scenes are those where Panabaker is alone on the screen and the worst are those involving her teenage rivals-the dialog given to these inexperienced cast members is almost surreal in its staggering lameness. The film is at least one back-story too many as there just isn't time to adequately cover Moondance coping with her father's death, reconciling her mother's new romantic interest, getting flirty with the son of her mother's boyfriend, saving stable owner Donte (Don Johnson) from a wasted life of alcohol abuse, turning her horse Checkers into a competitive jumper, and giving Roscoe P. Coltraine (James Best) a few moments of mild comic relief. "Moondance Alexander's" target audience of preteen girls and Sasha Cohen fans wasn't enough for it to get a widespread theatrical release but it is available as a direct-to-DVD product. There is nothing original or exciting here but it is a pleasant enough family film. And the dare to be different theme is handled quite nicely. Then again, what do I know? I'm only a child.