Where the Red Fern Grows (2003)
Set in the Ozark Mountains during the Great Depression, Billy Coleman works hard and saves his earnings for 2 years to achieve his dream of buying two coonhound pups. He develops a new trust in God as he faces overwhelming challenges in adventure and tragedy roaming the river bottoms of Cherokee country with "Old Dan" and "Little Ann."
Directors: Lyman D. Dayton, Lyman Dayton
Cast: Joseph Ashton, Ned Beatty, Mac Davis, Dabney Coleman, and Kris Kristofferson
Release Date: May 3, 2003
3 Movie Reviews
good
“Where the Red Fern Grows” Will leave your heart growing with emotion! “Where the Red Fern Grows” Is a very touching movie. If you decide to watch it, make sure to get in a comfortable position with your dog (If you have one) with a box of tissues nearby. The main characters of This movie Are Billy, his dogs, Dan and Ann, Billy’s dad, and especially Billy’s grandfather. The movie follows Billy, with his dogs Dan and Ann. Billy loved to hunt with Dan and Ann. Dan’s grandfather got him the dogs. He runs a store and almost sold him a dog, but another family bought it. Instead, Billy found a newspaper with an ad for dogs, he asked his grandfather to set him up to get them. He worked up enough money to get two dogs. As the movie progresses, we learn more about Billy’s personality and who he is. At one point in the movie, there was a hunting competition for who could catch the most ‘coons, or raccoons. He had chased three raccoons up a tree. Plus one that he had earlier, he would have won! But then he realized he lost his grandfather, so he ran off to find him instead of getting the ‘coons to win. This shows how much of a connection he has to his family, and how grateful he is to have them. The movie is about Billy Coleman narrating how he yearned to have a dog. Not just any dog, a dog he could hunt with. He finds an advertisement in the newspaper to get dogs. He worked up the money to afford two. His grandpa ordered them, but the dogs didn't get shipped the whole way. He had to walk the rest of the way to get them. He names his dogs Dan and Ann. He trains them to hunt and hunts ‘coons with them. He then encounters two boys who are trying to capture the “Ghost ‘Coon.” Billy finds the ‘coon with his dogs, but then one of the two boys trips on an axe and dies, so he vows never to hunt again. Then he enters the dogs in a hunting contest, they almost win, but then Billy’s grandfather slips and loses the rest of the bunch. They find the grandfather and lose the contest, but the winner grants the prize and the money to billy. The theme of this movie is to not stop trying, a second try may grant you success. For example, Billy accidentally killed someone when he hunted with Dan and Ann to find “The Ghost ‘Coon.” He vowed to himself that he would never ever hunt again. But, when he heard about the hunting competition, he thought about it long and hard and decided to take the opportunity and enter his dogs in. He entered and risked the win to save his grandfather, but because of that act of heroism, the winner of the competition decided to grant the award upon billy. This shows that a second try could lead to great reward. This movie would be great for most members of the family, except for little kids! The movie has an extremely sad scene that I will not spoil because spoilers aren’t nice, but it made most of the writing class cry so sensitive people and little ones shouldn’t watch this movie until they are ready! I believe that this movie was very heartwarming. It’s not a normal thing that kids of the 21st century would see. I feel as a whole that the movie was greatly put together, the actors were picked exceptionally, it felt like I was clinging on to my seat trying to decipher what could happen next that could put billy in some type of trouble. I would rate this movie 5 out of 5 stars. It’s a very touching movie, and you won’t regret watching it, I know I didn’t!
This is an AWESOME movie but I rated this as one because I just can't stand movies where a dog dies. It is extremely emotional.
