If you're looking for anything new, or a fresh perspective on the familiar theme of "stories of love and loss in the Old West," Love Comes Softly isn't the place to look. If there were just one word to describe this made-for-TV film, it would be "familiar": even though I'd never watched this movie before, or heard anything about it before popping the DVD in the player, I felt that I'd seen it all before.

Love Comes Softly is the story of a young pioneer woman, Marty (Katherine Heigl) who is unexpectedly widowed as she and her husband travel west. Unable to get a ride back east until the spring, she agrees to a platonic temporary "marriage" with a widower, Clark (Dale Midkiff) and his young daughter. Think of the most conventional, paint-by-numbers, sentimental way that this story could develop and conclude, and chances are you'll hit on the plot of Love Comes Softly. Not only is the film predictable in how it turns out, but there are really no surprises along the way, either. We've got the "winning over the cute daughter" story. We've got the "slightly spoiled woman learns how to cook for the first time" story. It's like playing connect-the-dots with stereotypical plot points.

There's also a faintly anachronistic air hanging over the film, as well. It's diffuse enough that I can't point a finger at any egregious faults in the production, but it's undeniable that the dialogue, hair styles, clothing, and even the characters' attitudes (especially Marty's) all have a slightly modern feel, despite the historical setting. It's not terrible, but it's one more area in which Love Comes Softly doesn't rise above its basic elements.

The film does look better than the typical TV melodrama, though: the cinematography is handled well, with lots of well-deserved lingering shots of the stunning landscapes of mountain and prairie. The gradual passing of time is nicely presented through recurring shots of the land in different seasons, as well.

Love Comes Softly isn't badly done, for all that I've critiqued it. It's a decent family film, and probably will go over well with younger viewers (especially romance-loving girl viewers) who haven't seen enough other films or TV shows to pick up on how predictable this one is.

The DVD

Video

The default presentation, happily, is an anamorphically-enhanced widescreen transfer that presents the film in its correct 1.78:1 aspect ratio. (A pan-and-scan version is on the other side of the disc.) The image quality is reasonable, looking best in close-up shots and decent in long-distance landscape shots. There's a moderate amount of noise and grain, but nothing too obtrusive; the image tends to be rather soft, but it's pleasant to look at.

Audio

The Dolby 2.0 soundtrack tends to be a bit on the flat side, but overall it does the job in a satisfactory manner.

Extras

The only special feature is a trailer for Hangman's Curse.

Final thoughts

Love Comes Softly is a very conventional, connect-the-dots-to-a-predictable-ending love story set in the Old West. Viewers with a soft spot for sentimental romance films may find it worth a rental (at least the film is enlivened with some very nice landscape shots), but otherwise it's something to pass over.