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Lightdeossk Captivating movie !

ActuallyGlimmer The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.

Philippa All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

Bill-454 I'd put this in the same category as THE SEVEN FACES OF DR. LAO, a true family movie: there's something anyone can relate to, but with some hokey flaws that ultimately don't matter.There are so many great parts to it, that it's a shame that some of the editing and a few character blunders are handled so badly.The John Henry competition is pretty much thrown away, just because of some bad editing.The bad guy is an out-of-place cartoon, supposedly in the "real world" but seems like a fugitive from THE WILD, WILD WEST. He is pitted against the well-drawn characters of Paul Bunyan, Pecos Bill, John Henry and Calamity Jane, all of whom start out as cartoons, then are cleverly nuanced. I could have used more Catherine O'Hara.Speaking of which, William H. Macy is pretty much wasted too.I won't spoil the ending, but I think they knew that they DID have a great ending that could survive lots of mis-steps. So don't tune out before the end.

Chromium_5 First of all, the casting is perfect. That's the one good thing I can say about this movie. Patrick Swayze, Oliver Platt, and Roger Aaron Brown make the most of their characters and have great chemistry together. Swayze is particularly hilarious as a tough-as-nails Pecos Bill. But the rest of this movie is a disaster. It has almost NO plot, and what little shreds of a plot it has are ridden with holes. I'll explain.You see, there's this guy Stiles who wants to buy up all the land in a community. So he holds a town meeting promising to give people vast sums of money in return for their land. Everyone is positively giddy about it, until this guy Jonas stands up and makes a touching speech about how the land is their heritage and it would be a sin to sell. Everyone gets on his case about it, and he concludes with, "Well, I ain't selling." Then what happens? Do they discuss it further? Does Stiles resume the meeting? No! Everyone just gets up and LEAVES! The meeting isn't even adjourned; they all just... walk out of the building! Did they forget what they were doing? Do they have Attention Deficit Disorder? Someone please explain this scene to me.Now, if I remember correctly, Stiles is so mad about Jonas ruining his meeting that he does the logical thing and... shoots Jonas. At the last minute, Jonas's son Daniel gets ahold of the deed to their land and runs away with it, because Stiles will stop at nothing to snatch it right out of his hands (a tried-and-true legal tactic). Daniel runs away and falls asleep in a boat. Then he dreams about being in the Old West with Pecos Bill. Then he wakes up, and Stiles tries to run him over with a train. Suddenly all the townspeople are on his side and he gets to keep the deed. It's all very confusing.What a dumb movie. 2/10 stars.

greyhwk Unlike the prior poster, I loved this movie. It is a great family movie that is based on the Tall Tales that many of us learned in literature classes. If you know who Pecos Bill, Paul Bunyan, or John Henry are, you will find those heroes here. If you don't, what better way to learn about some of American histories classic Tall Tale characters that once put a sense of pride in being American. It was obvious that they took the time to find very fitting actor for each role. The script was written to make it a definite family movie suitable for any family. When the movie ends, you feel satisfied that you saw a good movie and not left with an "oily" feeling like you were just slimed like many of the movies do today. The story is that of a boy and his family about to lose their farm to a railroad tycoon in the early 1900s, something that did happen back then. The American Tall Tale characters are brought in one at a time to help the boy through the situation and teach him the way of being a man, with respect.

motmotmot11 Tall Tale is a fun little movie. The basic plot is that a young boy enlists the help of fictional heroes to save his family's farm from an evil capitalist. What makes this movie special is the fictional heroes. They are played and acted very well. Scott Glen is decent as the villain, and the scenery is very beautiful. The fictional heroes are all that separate Tall Tale from a normal "Kid tries to save his family's farm/home/whatever from an evil land baron" story. It's not perfect. There are some very slow parts and Patrick Swayze is terrible, but it's still good nonetheless. If you like American folktales, then rent Tall Tale. You just might like it.