Sedona (2011) User Reviews

Well-intended I suppose, but just not interesting and too heavy-handed.

[suite92 · 6/10 · 9 September 2013]

Through a series of incidences of Murphy's Law, travelers get stuck together near Sedona, Arizona.

Tammy cannot get to her meeting: a plane lands on her car; the mechanic cannot get required parts; she locked herself out of her rental car. While waiting for her car to be fixed, she gets a pedicure from Beth, who asks her how her son is doing.

Scott's younger son gets lost. They are lucky enough to encounter a local search and rescue professional, who helps them look.

Tammy gets to revisit past wounds, and to get the opposite of prepared for her meeting.

Scott gets to find his younger son. So?

Tammy and Scott meet late in the show, and the matter of Tammy's child given up for adoption is resolved. Her meeting is lost.

Cinematography: 8/10 Amazingly good, except for outdoor closeups. Some of the exteriors seemed to be color-enhanced.

Sound: 6/10 Well done, except for the severely overblown musical nonsense toward the end of the film.

Acting: 7/10 Reasonable for the script, even including the child actors.

Screenplay: 6/10 Well-intended I suppose, but just not interesting and too heavy-handed.

It's fate baby it's fate

[bkoganbing · 5/10 · 23 August 2018]

I'm guessing that the them of Sedona is that Sedona is impossible to resist. Sooner or later its laid back ways will get you although it takes to nearly the end of the film before Frances Fisher gives in.

Sedona has Fisher who is a high priced Phoenix ad executive going on a road trip and passing through Sedona on the way to meet a most important client in Phoenix. One of those incredible happenings occures when a small craft airplane lands on the highway and forces Fisher to crash her car.

She takes it to Barry Corbin's garage for repair and that's going to slow for her taste. She tries renting another car and that sets off all kinds of strange occurences. It's like fate was keeping her there.

The other story was that partners Seth Peterson and Matthew J. Williamson were taking there two boys hiking and one of them gets lost. Some nervous moments for all concerned. And of course the stories are connected in a mystical Sedona way.

This Arizona small city has become a Mecca for all kinds of new age types and the film's best moments are with Fisher going slightly bonkers with the LaDeeDa attitude of all the citizens. I'd have been going around the bend myself in that situation.

Pleasant enough film and essentially a big plug for the tourist trade to come to Sedona.

Great film but I felt that it was missing something...

[maglyza69 · 6/10 · 24 May 2011]

I truly enjoyed this movie but thought something was missing. I'm from NYC and was visiting Sedona during the film festival. Sedona is such a beautiful and relaxing place! We stayed at a resort nearby the movie theaters and our local friends, well not that "local" since they came from Flagstaff to meet us but you get the point, invited us to watch this film that was the main attraction at their film festival. Being a film festival junkie myself (I go every year to most film festivals in NYC), I did not want to miss this one. Since we arrived in Arizona, we encountered so many Hispanics. In our resort, most of the employees were Hispanics; at the spa, there were many too. In the restaurants, the shops, everywhere! No wonder, Arizona was part of Mexico until February 12, 1912 when it became the 48th US state. So when I saw that the movie title was "sedona" I thought it would include such an obvious part of that magical place. It did not. There was no one Hispanic character in this movie. This is the same thing that happened with that movie called "New York I love you" which did not include us "Newyoricans" (Pto. Ricans born in New York) and it also ignored the gay community (there were none in that movie). How can someone do a movie about NYC without including those two groups?? I felt similarly when I saw Sedona, The Movie. There were not Hispanics (if there were, they did not have any lines or assigned roles). The movie itself is great, the views (breathtking!), the scenery, the plot. Very engaging and leaves you with that "feel good" sensation. I was glad to see Christopher Atkins (from Blue Lagoon) acting again and Frances Fisher is such a joy to watch! Beth Grant and Lynn Shaye are two of the best actresses ever! And the little boy is absolutely adorable. But I really missed to see some of those Latino faces I saw in the streets of Sedona. After all, it was all about Sedona. Right?

Quintessential Sedona

[mary-gladieux · 28 September 2011]

As a Sedona resident, I could not wait to see this movie. Happy to say, it was all I hoped for and more. Sedona (the City) has to be experienced first hand to understand the energy and synchronicity here, but this film gives the audience a glimpse into the metaphysical experience one finds in this amazing place. I loved this movie for accurately capturing a tiny slice of mystical Sedona. Tommy Stoval and Marc Sterling did a wonderful job creating a light-hearted, entertaining look into the extraordinary vibrational aura that some people find a bit uncomfortable here. Others, like me, find it life changing and heart opening. Sedona, The Motion Picture, demonstrates how so many seemingly everyday happenings become serendipituous events that change us in profound ways and reconnect us to unconditional love. Those of us fortunate enough to call Sedona home have a phrase for it: Sedona moments. Congratulations to everyone involved with this film!

An atrocious film with some nice Sedona landscape shots

[JoeBobJones · 2/10 · 19 January 2024]

Oh my god, I just watched Sedona because I once knew someone in it with a bit part. Even dodged a romantic bullet with her - Chemtrails were her entry drug, a train wreck conspiracist who fell down the rabbit hole and is now lost. Long story.

But anyway! That's not this story. Sedona? The curiosity of a single cast member alone couldn't save this wan cliche of a story, plodded through by actors who probably thought Sedona was as obvious and dumb while filming it as I did while watching it. All in the space of about 4 hours, a hardened ad agency owner throws it all away because of a car, a coffee, a pedi, and a cast of quirky characters out of central casting, Sedona style. Oh, kid lost in the desert? Don't worry, a Native American will show up 60 seconds later and start tracking. Poor Christopher Atkins is just a lump, the great Barry Corbin fixes a car, and Lin Shaye dances around dredging up magic emotions in our protagonist, a bewildered Frances Fisher. Nobody gets used to any artistic potential. Then the whole thing is padded out to feature length by about 8 minutes of end credits, including an end credit scene a-la Kingpin, but with dancing.

Somebody set fire to a million + bucks to bring this reeking steamer to life, and that's a shame. What a waste, man. Starving artists could have used a tenth of the budget to make something brilliant. A twentieth! Instead, junk like this gets made. Boo.

It's So Sedona

[yyum5 · 10/10 · 28 February 2011]

This film was not what I was expecting. Everything about it's off-kilter approach -- including its enhanced landscapes and innovative shots, quirky spiritualists, and out-of-touch tourists -- lends itself to capturing Sedona's uplifting lightheartedness. In this spirit, it's appropriate that a balloon floating upon a breeze sets all the synchronicity in motion. I take the experiences of the waylaid tourist entirely seriously, as seriously as I take the Apostle Paul's conversion on the road to Damascus. Too bad Paul couldn't have been on the road to Sedona. Christianity would have had a much lighter touch in achieving the same end.

Great Acting, Great Story, Great Movie!

[wizwaz3 · 10/10 · 29 September 2011]

Sedona was a wonderful movie to watch. It's a great feel-good movie. Rightly so, they acknowledge the gay community by placing it in the main plot. Frances was wonderful to watch on-screen. It is a shame she has not been recognized at awards ceremonies. Beth is fun to watch. She's light hearted, quirky and care-free. Seth had a demanding presence when he was in a scene. He is truly a great actor. Trevor was simply awesome. He's very good for being so young! If there was a down-side to this film, it was only it's low budget. Due to this, the special effects are relatively terrible. I really hope a major production company will back this movie so they may improve on the special effects. This movie leaves you feeling good when it ends. They've done a great job on this movie, especially for a low-budget indie film. Congratulations!

Brilliantly done!

[Sophia-Jones · 10/10 · 2 April 2021]

A round of applause for the writer, director, cast, and crew that put together this masterpiece! Beautifully crafted! I've never been to Sedona but, have been longing to go recently. When I came across this movie on Gaia, I had to watch. Life is often perfectly woven together just like this. Once we relax, learn to flow, stay present and be happy, we learn better and notice the synchronicities. You attract what you focus on. Take it easy and let life happen for you, not to you. Bravo! Bravo!

Sedona - the movie

[jilldalejd · 10/10 · 21 October 2013]

Incredible and stunning cinematography and fantastic editing. The storyline was captivating from the first second. Frances Fisher's portrayal of an almost neurotic, Type A, advertising executive was spot on and raised the enjoyment level of this movie.

As Tammy (Fisher), a high-powered ad executive driving to Phoenix for a very important meeting. She took a wrong turn and is driving through the Sedona area when a plane makes an emergency landing on the road and basically rear-ends her car. Tammy is not only forced to miss her meeting with one of the most important clients of her career, but is relegated to a 2-3 day visit in this town of "strange" people. As the story progresses, Tammy realizes that the pit stop may have happened for a reason. Tammy dismisses the notion of the vortex effect, but gradually begins to soften when all her setbacks in Sedona bring surprising consequences. The story takes twists and turns suggesting that the vortexes of Sedona play a part in connecting the various scenarios within the film.

The only downside to this movie is the acting of some of the supporting characters....however, I thoroughly enjoyed the film which is available on Hulu. The cinematography itself is worth the watch.

A Curious Independent Family Drama

[tabuno · 8/10 · 17 January 2019]

26 January 2013. It's hard to avoid the preferential bias of having loved and experienced Sedona, Arizona a number of years back and watching this movie which only offered tantalizing but only fragmentary tidbits of better times. Nevertheless with a resonating Southwestern soundtrack, the vortex energy radiating mysteriously in the background this simple, yet at times realistically pungent examination of frantic individuals at their wits end, the brotherly banter, the movie comes close to boringly real...a great home movie. Yet underneath it all there is a genuine emotive connectivity in this movie that offers touching moments along with the oftentimes traditional message of slowing down and making peace with one's self, something that Sedona in real life actually can offer. With no pat ending, leaving a huge mystery left open to speculation, this movie is to be appreciated for its simple, but revealing story of intersecting lines. It's hard to compare this movie to others because it's really doesn't follow the usual action, compelling, riveting narrative. Instead we are offered the spectacular landscapes, the mystical, and the ordinary but meaningful human interactions that make life worthwhile.