The Ranch (1989) User Reviews

A ranch and the debt it's drowning in

[bkoganbing · 5/10 · 21 January 2018]

The Ranch marks actress Stella Stevens's directorial debut and what her film The Ranch lacks in budget it makes up for in two respects. Fine location cinematography in Alberta where most of the story is set and a fine leading man who had an in with the director.

If Stella couldn't call on her son Andrew for a favor now and then he'd be a most ungrateful child. The rest of the cast is made up of Canadian players I doubt you've heard of. As for Andrew Stevens he delivers a fine performance in a pleasant and easy to take comedy/drama about a ranch he inherits from an uncle. Comes right about a time when this ad man is looking for a change in career.

He inherits the ranch and also the debt it's drowning in. He also inherits a staff of sorts, but they're not exactly a paid staff. Turns out the uncle won the ranch in a poker bet and the others simply stayed on hoping it would turn around. So did the daughter of the former owner.

What Stevens does discover is that there's a mineral spring on the place and it feeds some healing mud. So an idea germinates in the head of the former ad agency executive to turn the remote place into a health spa.

The Ranch is about the obstacles Stevens overcomes both financial and social. He gradually adapts into the western life while not losing his selling skills.

The climax I have to say is a bit bizarre. But I guess it comes under the heading that people can do amazing things when their backs are to the wall.

The Ranch is not a great film, but it is easy to take entertainment and fine work for the mother and son team named Stevens.

A dude ranch tries to save itself by creating a spa.

[mike_wzouski · 10/10 · 20 September 2002]

The Ranch was a most excellent movie. It had a great story that that took place on a Canadian dude ranch. A city slicker receives a letter saying that he had inherited a ranch. So, he goes to "the ranch" to check it out and realizes it is in need of some serious financial help. Utilizing the mud baths that sit on the property, he comes up with the idea to start a spa. Everyone at the ranch works really hard and they pull off getting some customer's to come to their spa. But, do they get their money to the bank in time? Or does the insurance company seize their ranch and leave them without a home?

"A must see!" -says The Advisor

Unfortunately, this movie isn't easy to come across, but the copies that are available are worth the trouble.

Typical of its era, light comedy with an appealing lead actor to help anchor it.

[Poseidon-3 · 26 September 2006]

Ah, the 80's. When else could a corny, tacky, yet strangely charming, piece of fluff like this be concocted and released to video (almost) never to be seen again by human eyes?! Stevens (who was directed here by his celebrated mother Stella in a rare attempt behind the camera) plays a big city exec whose job is lost when a product he has developed has adverse side effects. On the same (very bad) day, he also loses his car, his girlfriend and his leased home. Fortunately, a deceased uncle has willed him a large ranch in Alberta, Canada. However, when he arrives there, he is met with a rather worthless piece of property and a fair amount of hostility from the four people living and working there. It turns out that Stevens' uncle obtained the property rather shiftily and that the family living there has been working feverishly to hold the place together for little or no reward. When Stevens is faced with a large back-tax bill, he brainstorms to turn the ranch into a money-making prospect, utilizing a natural mud bath that actually does afford therapeutic comfort. Building the rest of the business around this mud, he creates The Wild Rose Spa and invites wealthy ladies to come and enjoy its charms with the resident man offering recreation, his wife doing all the cooking and their daughter taking over the task of fitness. A fellow ranch hand (Fjellgaard) gives horseback riding lessons. Unfortunately, the "spa" is little more than a pink-painted dump and Stevens' money problems are far from over. He also has to contend with the daughter of a high-powered magazine critic who has come to preview the place. It isn't hard to see where the story will wind up, though there are a couple of pleasures (and pitfalls) in getting there. Stevens (one of the unsung cutie-pies of the late 70's and early 80's) is at his most charming here. He has a thousand-watt smile and a great body. His charisma goes a long way in covering up for the intense amateurism of the bulk of his fellow cast. The plot is inherently lame and the director peppers the film with many stale, crass and obvious jokes and gags. The "actresses" portraying the spa's first guests, aside from the one playing the critic's daughter, are so bad they are utter agony to watch and listen to. Particularly horrible is a pair of twins who employ a ghastly accent and a bunch of really bad bits of schticky business in their "performances". There are several musical interludes which will either appeal to or appall any viewer, depending on their tolerance for homespun Canadian country songs. Despite all this, the makers clearly enjoyed themselves (witness the outtakes woven through the closing credits) and, if nothing else the film, has heart. Stevens, along with his lanky cohort Fjellgaard, even has a semi-nude scene in which the men quickly vacate the mud bath, clad only in their saturated jockey shorts, and run towards the house to investigate the sound of gunshots. This sequence alone merits watching at least part of the movie. (Earlier, he has another quick skin-baring scene in which the farm wife rips the sheets off his bed, forcing him to grab a nearby hat for cover!) For fans of Stevens, it's a must-see. All others beware.

Amusing low budget romantic comedy.

[Mamamerlot · 8/10 · 31 March 2002]

This is NOT a film based on the book "The Ranch". However, it was fun. The music was good, could have been enhanced more. A few scenes should have been longer but the mother-son team of the Stevenses di well considering it was first time they worked together and first feature length film directed by Stella. Given more money, the film could have been better but still worth the view.