Jacob Buster – Through the Shattered Lens

In 2013’s Storm Rider, Dani Fielding (Danielle Churchan) is a rich, spoiled teenager who loves to compete in horse shows with her horse, Admiral. However, when Dani’s father (C. Thomas Howell), is arrested and charged with financial fraud, Dani’s life changes forever. The government seizes Admiral and sells him to Dani’s rival. When Dani’s younger half-brother, Jordan (Jacob Buster), is sent off to live with his gold digging mother, Dani is sent to live with her uncle, Sam (Kevin Sorbo).

Sam is a taciturn veterinarian who lives on a ranch in …. well, I assume it’s Montana. Don’t most of these movies take place in Montana? Wherever the film was shot, the scenery is absolutely gorgeous. Sam’s not really comfortable with people in general and he has no idea how to deal with teenage girl, especially one who doesn’t eat meat. As for Dani, she’s initially miserable because she’s been separated from her former life and her former horse.

Fortunately, Sam owns a lot of animals. Dani notices an orphaned mule named Stormy and she takes it upon herself to train him. Taking care of Stormy helps Dani let go of her bitterness. Soon, she’s watching the blossoming romance between Sam and Jody Peterson (Kristy Swanson) and she’s got a romance of her own going with Kevin Winslow (Darien Willardson). Kevin’s father owns a horse that Dani starts to train in the hopes that she can enter a regional horse show with her.

However, when Sam, Jordan, and Kevin’s father get stranded in the mountains, it’s Stormy who helps Dani find them. When night falls and they find themselves surrounded by wolves, will they even make it back to civilization?

It would be a really depressing movie if they didn’t! Fortunately, Storm Rider is not a movie that was made to spread depression. Instead, it’s a rather heart-warming tale about a young woman who conquers her anger and discovers that a mule can be just as strong and brave as the biggest horse. This is very much a film that was designed to make viewers smile and feel good about life and, for the most part, it succeeds. Of course, I still cried constantly while watching the film because I kept thinking about my mom and my dad and how much I miss both of them. This film definitely made me emotional. Often, the best thing that a film can do is to make you cry. Sometimes, I think people forget just how important it is to cry when you’re feeling sad.

As I think I’ve said in the past, I’ve always has a weakness for films about angry or rebellious girls who find peace and grace through taking care of an animal. Whether it’s a cat or a dog or a horse or anything else, there’s something undeniably wonderful about winning the trust of another creature. “You can’t be a jerk and love animals,” someone once said and I imagine that’s true. This film, well-acted and featuring beautiful mountain scenery, made me smile even when I was crying,

After watching River Raft Nightmare, it was time to finish watching Lost Boy. I say finish because, if I am remembering correctly, I actually watched the first hour when Lost Boy had its Lifetime premiere on July 25th. However, after 60 minutes, I turned over to SyFy and I watched Lavalantula. At the time, I probably said, “I’ll finish watching this on the DVR.” And it only took me 3 months to get around to it!

Lost Boy opens with every parent’s worst nightmare. Six year-old Mitchell Harris is flying a kite in the park when he’s abducted. Eleven years later, Mitchell is still missing but his mother, Laura (Virginia Madsen), is convinced that he’s still out there. She continues to put up flyers and, every time the police call to ask her to identify another body, Laura fears that it will turn out to be her son.

In the 11 years since Mitchell vanished, Laura has become a successful and influential advocate for missing persons but it’s come at the cost of her family. She is separated from her husband, Greg (Mark Valley). When Greg’s new girlfriend, Amanda (Carly Pope), gets pregnant, Greg asks Laura to finalize the divorce. Laura is hesitant, not wanting to end their marriage while Mitchell might still be out there and looking for them. For his part, Greg seems to have moved on and accepted that his son his dead. Meanwhile, Mitchell’s twin sister, Summer (Sosie Bacon), deals with her guilt and anger by rebelling.

(It wouldn’t be a Lifetime movie without a rebellious teenage daughter.)

One night, a 17 year-old boy (Matthew Fahey) emerges from the shadows and stares at one of Laura’s flyers. Soon, the boy shows up at the high school, watching Summer. And then, one night, the boy suddenly appears at Laura’s front door. When Laura sees him, she is immediately convinced that Mitchell has returned home.

But has he? Both Greg and Amanda are suspicious of “Mitchell.” For one thing, Mitchell doesn’t seem to have many clear memories of his family. As well, he refuses to tell anyone who kidnapped him or where he’s been. He encourages Summer and his younger brother, Jonathan (Jacob Buster), to do dangerous things and then threatens to hurt them if they tell on him. Though Mitchell makes a big show of having nightmares about his ordeal, he’s actually awake while he’s tossing and turning.

Perhaps most damning of all, when Mitchell, Greg, and Jonathan take a DNA test, Mitchell switches his DNA with Jonathan’s and again threatens to kill Jonathan…

So, yes, it’s pretty obvious that Mitchell is not who he says he is. However, whenever anyone points out how strangely he’s acting, Laura makes excuses for him. She’s so happy to have her son back that she’s willing to overlook all of the inconsistencies in his story. Or, at the very least, she is until she finds out that Mitchell has been threatening Jonathan. But, by that point, Greg is convinced that Mitchell is his son and now, suddenly, he’s the one who is making excuses for him…

I liked Lost Boy, even if it did ultimately get somewhat predictable. Moodily shot and featuring an excellent lead performance from Virginia Madsen, Lost Boy made me wonder what I would do if I ever found myself in a similar situation. Hopefully, I won’t ever have to find out.