There are some really good performances in this TV movie that goes down familiar territory in the most obvious of ways. Charlton Heston is an aging rancher, estranged from son Peter Strauss who went AWOL in Vietnam and moved to France to avoid a court martial. Now that Heston is ailing, wife Nan Martin calls sin Strauss to come back, and thus sets up a reunion for all sorts of old resentments to come out from both sides, until Strauss reveals what brought about his desertion. The two must stand together to fight when the locales take it upon themselves to get revenge on Strauss who is bailed out after being arrested for desertion, even though it is years later. This element of the film's story is interesting when you consider Heston's real life conservative politics and his involvement with the NRA.
Animal activists beware, rodeo scenes show everything that is being fought against. For me, those scenes just weren't interesting. I was more interested in the personal relationships between Heston, Martin and Strauss. It was nice to see veteran character actress Martin in a large part for a change, reminding me greatly of the wonderful Frances Sternhagen, but equally excellent on her own. This really does have similar situations in common with "On Golden Pond", especially with the arrival of Strauss's French speaking son who has never met his paternal grandparents. One carbon copy scene that works is when Martin tells her son, "Unless you're the second coming of Christ, you've done something wrong" when Strauss claims that he hasn't done anything wrong to warrant Heston's forgiveness. There are also elements of the prime- time soap opera "Dallas" here with the ranch setting and the Heston/Martin relationship highly resembling Jock and Miss Ellie, and Strauss closer to "Knot's Landing's" Ray than either J.R. or Bobby.
Animal activists beware, rodeo scenes show everything that is being fought against. For me, those scenes just weren't interesting. I was more interested in the personal relationships between Heston, Martin and Strauss. It was nice to see veteran character actress Martin in a large part for a change, reminding me greatly of the wonderful Frances Sternhagen, but equally excellent on her own. This really does have similar situations in common with "On Golden Pond", especially with the arrival of Strauss's French speaking son who has never met his paternal grandparents. One carbon copy scene that works is when Martin tells her son, "Unless you're the second coming of Christ, you've done something wrong" when Strauss claims that he hasn't done anything wrong to warrant Heston's forgiveness. There are also elements of the prime- time soap opera "Dallas" here with the ranch setting and the Heston/Martin relationship highly resembling Jock and Miss Ellie, and Strauss closer to "Knot's Landing's" Ray than either J.R. or Bobby.