Review of Cowgirls n' Angels (2012) by Kenneth H — 13 Feb 2014

This is a touching story with some likable characters, but I really can't take this movie seriously. The dialog is cheesy as hell, and I'm not a big fan of the religious references. The plot is totally formulaic and predictable (though I did expect the Sweethearts to put up more of a protest when Ida first joins them). Pretty much everything just goes in Ida's favor. Ida is outgoing and feisty, but she's a brat with a sense of entitlement, especially in the first half of the movie when she's a streetrat stealing from people right and left. Her mercurial temper and wild mood swings are exhausting to watch. All that drama with Ida and her mom, and with Rebecca and Kansas, were annoying. This movie is loaded with ridiculous cheese and sappy moments, and is really best enjoyed as an unintentional comedy.

For me, the best thing about this movie, and why I even bothered to watch it in the first place, is that it was filmed in Stillwater, so I could see familiar Stillwater locales. (Disappointingly, in the movie Stillwater became "Landon". What, Stillwater's not good enough for you?) We get to see a dance scene in Outlaws (which looked WAY cleaner and nicer in the movie than it does in real life). We get to see a dramatic fight outside of The Barn, with Cowboy Laundry (where I do my laundry every few weeks!) plainly visible in the background - for some reason I found the idea of these people airing out their stupid drama just across the street from where I do my laundry to be hilarious. And we get to see the 6th Avenue Walmart, where upstanding regular folk do all their shopping (not to be confused with the far busier and trashier Perkins Road Walmart).

There are some good country music songs too, like "C'mon" by Amber Hayes.