The Long Road Home (1999) User Reviews

Sweet though slow-paced drama

[sjwestbrooks · 7/10 · 24 February 2022]

Long Road Home is better than I expected it to be. I began to watch it expecting a cheesy old family flick, only to find that it's...actually pretty good.

The actors, above all the ones who play Seth and his grandfather, act superbly. The beautiful forests shown set the mood perfectly, and the direction is almost flawless. But the element of the film I love the most is the writing. The emotional struggles the characters face have never come across as forced, and neither, surprisingly, do the brief moments of comic relief. They act in this film as real people would act, something many independent films cannot boast of.

There are only two things in this film which I must criticize: the pace, which a couple times slows down to show around ten establishing shots after the other (obviously a way to make the film's runtime last 90 minutes), and a dream sequence during the film which feels more confusing honestly than anything else.

These two flaws, luckily, do not have enough impact to ruin the movie. I am therefore proud to declare Long Road Home a excellent, sweet but not sugary, movie for the whole family.

Grim verbal child abuse tale

[roedyg · 7/10 · 20 September 2014]

"Long Road Home" is not about a journey. It takes place completely on ranch in the USA. Seth is 12, played by an 11 year old actor, but who could easily pass for 16, the reverse of the usual way of doing things. He is not your typical cute button-nose child actor. He is a gangly everyboy. Both his parents have died and he has nowhere to go but to live with his grandparents. Grandpa is a mean old cuss, with never a kind word for anyone, demanding, outshouting others to get his own way, racist, bigoted, selfish, cutting, derogatory, narrow minded, a bully. He treats Seth as a slave endlessly assigning chore after chore, not letting him go to school. Grandpa is verbally abusive, but not physically abusive.

To make matters worse, Seth's only companion is a slightly older girl on a neighbouring ranch who contemptuously toys with him.

He is stuck in hell with no prospects of escape, just flights of melodramatic imagination. Granny unexpectedly dies making matters even worse.

Seth gradually becomes more skillful with horses, machinery and livestock. He appears to be doing nearly all his own stunts. I was impressed.

Grandpa expelled the Seth's mother from the home, but he would never tell Seth why. Eventually most of the story is revealed, but it still makes little sense.

Eventually Seth saves Grandpa's life, and Grandpa has a miraculous change of attitude. I thought of the Victorious Messenger in "Mack The Knife", that made possible the happy ending, but that was so preposterously improbable, the happy ending became a sham. The believable part of the ending is Seth discovers there are kind people in the world, not his Grandpa, he can count on.

I was a physically and sexually abused kid myself. Had I seen this film as a child, I would have strongly identified with it, and I would have hooted at the ending at just too silly for words. Nothing but Grandpa's death, perhaps eaten by hogs, would have sufficed as a "happy" ending.

small family film

[SnoopyStyle · 6/10 · 13 December 2021]

12-year-old Seth George goes to live with his grandparents on a ranch after the death of his mother. His hardnosed grandfather hates his daughter's marriage to Seth's native father who died during the Vietnam war. Seth is taken with neighbor girl Annie Jacobs (Mary Elizabeth Winstead).

The writing is a little broad and yet somehow reserved. Grandpa hates the mix marriage but he doesn't call the father derogatory names. In fact, he seems to be respectful when dealing with his native in-laws. He puts it down to believing in staying with your own kind. I guess it works. Maybe if he's not as angry. His anger suggests that he would be brutal in dealing with not his kind. All in all, it's fine. It's indie acting and indie filmmaking. There is also a very young Mary Elizabeth Winstead. At first, she looks different but her facial features do show through.

Home is where the heart is

[somethingtotallyoriginal · 8/10 · 25 November 2005]

This is the 4th Craig Clyde movie I have seen. It is a change of pace, grimmer than the others, as we see a good boy try to cope with his grandfathers never ending coldness towards him and everything. But as the wise Indian said, "Its best to let hate burn out." And so it does. Time and circumstance brings them together with a beautiful, rewarding ending that ties everything up and leaves everyone happy. The title perfectly sums it up. This is an absorbing character study/time piece. I've yet to be disappointed/always been impressed with the writer/directors work. I think I'll take his invitation on the commentary and see his website/send him an email.

Surprisingly good family film

[Wizard-8 · 24 January 2016]

This is the first movie I've seen from writer/director Craig Clyde, a prolific filmmaker who has made a number of family movies. Having heard negative reports about his films, plus learning that this particular one got a seal of approval from the Dove foundation, I was prepared for the worst. To my surprise, I thought that the movie was solid for the most part. Refreshingly, it isn't loud, fast- paced, and obnoxious like so many modern family movies. It also isn't sugary and stupid. In fact, the movie has a serious attitude throughout. It deals with some serious topics from racism to death of loved ones, and in thoughtful and intelligent ways. There is also some good character development, with various characters evolving in believable manner from start to end. It certainly helps that the amateur cast gives good performances to these well written characters. As a bonus, the movie has a very nice musical score as well as some good scenery. The only parts of the movie that don't work are the fantasy/dream sequences, which come across as kind of embarrassing and cheap, though fortunately they only consist of a sliver of the total running time. One word of warning, however: Make sure you get a good print of this movie. I saw this movie through the Echo Bridge "6 Family Movies" DVD pack, and the print that was used looked TERRIBLE. It's kind of a shame that a fine family movie like this was treated so shabbily.

A hidden gem

[praisercheri · 8/10 · 11 February 2022]

A surprisingly good film. I was amazed at how good-natured and tolerant the young boy was in view of the treatment he received from his grandfather. It did not seem like the way most boys that age would react.

However, that said, he proved himself & won the old scoundrel's heart.

I really enjoyed the movie.