Every Second Counts (2008)

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

Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

It's an amazing and heartbreaking story.

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

The plot is pretty standard family-movie fare: Dad had to abandon a promising sports career due to an injury and now competes vicariously through his talented daughter who would prefer to live a "normal" life and continues to compete just to please dad. Daughter finds out that Dad has put the family in financial dire straits and takes it upon herself to save the family. In the end everything works out fine. It's not a bad plot, just not particularly original.In this case the backdrop is team sorting. Having been a horseman and rodeo fan for many years, I know a little about this sport. It's not really a "big money" proposition; mostly it's an event that Joe Average Wannabe Cowboy can compete in if he doesn't have the time, money, or dedication to compete in roping or cutting. There are a couple of sanctioning bodies out there with circuit championships that pay a little, but if someone was able to win as much as $30,000 in a year doing it they would probably have to spend $35,000 in direct expenses and lost wages to make it happen. It's certainly not something that a rational person would mortgage the house against future winnings on. So that part of the movie doesn't really fly with me. Also, when Brooke rides the replacement horse for the first time, she tells it that she wants to see what it can do and proceeds to run it across the countryside at a full gallop. Which would tell her absolutely nothing about how the horse would perform in a sorting event, but was probably more fun for young girls to watch. And last but not least (in fact, possibly worst), when Brooke's parents get home and realize that she has left for the competition, her mom says that she took "her saddle and all the tackle." If she took tackle you would assume that she's going fishing. the equipment used in riding a horse is called TACK (no -le). The fact that this line made it through tells me that nobody involved with the film had any idea what they were talking about. Oh, the horse being constantly tied up while standing in the stall was annoying, as well.The acting was decent, and the beautiful scenery made watching the film tolerable. I sort of enjoyed it in spite of myself. If you enjoy this sort of film it's worth watching if you stumble across it on Hallmark and have nothing to do for a couple of hours. Otherwise, don't bother.

Interesting but cliché film dealing with a rodeo family. The father was injured in an accident some years before and that ended his career.Mom works as a waitress in a restaurant while the daughter dreams of becoming a vet while doing some ride competing for the family to earn dollars.Dad loses his job and it looks like the daughter will never get to college to pursue her dreams as she is dropping out. I love the way she drops back in by handing in her extra credit project to gain a scholarship and then catch up on the work she missed. Before all this, she tutors a boy in biology and love blossoms.With the horses conking out, dad suddenly is able to ride again and prevail. Daddy had lost his job as a repair person for not being that responsible on the job.We've seen this before. I gave it *** for those who like riding but really this is a **1/2 production.

Yet ANOTHER Hallmark movie that adds nothing to entertainment. Yet ANOTHER horsey movie in which no one knows the last thing about horses, especially the riders.Yet ANOTHER waste of time for the viewers.The story is again the same - overbearing parent who needs to learn a "life" lesson. A child who is devoted to her family, even to the point of being used by them for their own gain.Hallmark has a fine history of truly abysmal movies, all with the cheapest production values and usually with one known actor amid a crowd of unknowns. This is no different. I haven't a clue who the actress is that plays Brooke, the daughter. Stephen Collins I know well - he's the sole "name" in the bunch.The story? Daughter wants to be a veterinarian. Dad wants her to be big-time rodeo star. Mom flitters around the background, uttering bleats of concern, all the while plucking a guitar for her lost dream of being a singer.What this movie needs for all its lost characters is a big EXIT sign.I hope everyone who reads this realizes the great sacrifice I made in sticking with this movie till the end, just so I could honorably write this review.And my last point? I know it's cheaper to film in Canada, BUT STOP IT ALREADY!!!! You are not fooling a soul. We KNOW it's set in the United States (supposedly Washington State), but we can tell it's Canada. Enough already. I get homesick for the States watching these movies.OK, that wasn't my last point. I was truly concerned for the horses in this movie. I've ridden all my life, and there's nothing so slick and treacherous as mud (except, perhaps, loose slate in the Grand Tetons, Wyoming). These poor animals were in mud up to their hocks, and I was concerned one of them might get seriously hurt.Move production to Arizona or Texas - make it easier on the animals. Soggy, sodden British Columbia doesn't do it for me.Now where do I go to get my 120-minute refund? 1* out of 10

Kind of a Fluff piece. Having ridden all of my life, and having my Grandfather teach me, even to include corrective Shoeing of a horse, the opening of the movie kind of insults my intelligence. Here is a woman supposedly a top penning rider, and she does not have a clue about how to ride a cutting horse. She holds the reins separately in each hand and reins as if she were reining a plow horse. All riders, even novices know that you hold the reins together and lay them against the side of the horses neck to rein the horse in the direction you wish to go. Also the type of horse that would be doing this type of work, is a cutting horse, and is directed more with leg and knee pressure. A good cutting horse, you can drop the reins on their neck, and work with leg pressure only to direct them, and never touch the reins. Maybe next time they will get a rider who actually knows how to ride a horse. As far as the rest of the movie. About the same. Milk Toast plot, Father has visions of one life for Daughter and Daughter has her own visions. What can I say. Another movie filmed in Canada with a Canadian view on our lives. They do not have a clue about life in the real world.