A Fine Step (2014) User Reviews

Fair film ...but...

[mezzaloonie · 4/10 · 27 August 2014]

The film was watchable. I love horses. But Armand Assante stumbled through his lines. Most of them completely mumbled. I actually went online to see if he had a stroke (like Kirk Douglas) because of his horrible lack of articulation. (Assante did NOT have a stroke...so there is no excuse for his poor performance).

The film itself was a good family film, with a predictable story, but the distraction of Assante's poor delivery make the film far less enjoyable.

The horses were amazing. Have ridden a paso fino in the past I was able to relate to the great training.

If you love horses and/or the paso fino style, you will enjoy the film. Just ignore Assante's horrible acting.

Disjointed

[Jackbv123 · 4/10 · 27 September 2017]

When I saw the story-line for this, I thought that here was a story with some heartwarming possibilities. The disjointed delivery of the story didn't deliver.

Of course you can guess where the story is going after you get into it, but it wandered while getting there and transitions weren't smooth. I think part of the problem was that there were too many characters that the film tried to focus on. Either Lilly or Claire would have made a great central character, but while the film leaned toward Claire, it was still divided and Sneed's performance just wasn't good enough, even for a 13 year old. Given the actors, I would have rather seen Claire minimized and have Lilly be the central focus. Either way, I think I would have found a stronger focus on either compelling but as was, I just didn't get drawn in.

One of the central plot points, which was the deal made for the loan on Cal's ranch, was confusing. It really didn't make sense, but then neither did the fact that Cal didn't win a huge lawsuit for negligence from his accident thus negating the need for the loan.

You might have expected a romance, but there really isn't one.

The two actors with the longest resumes were big disappointments. Both Perry and Assante coasted through the film with little conviction.

I think there were supposed to be moments of comedy with arrogant Marzo trying to train the horse and later with the color commentator at the contest. Marzo just fell flat and the commentator was so annoying, I couldn't stand it and had to fast forward through much of it.

Watchable with Fine Horses!

[LoupGarouTFTs · 6/10 · 25 December 2018]

It was not the best movie I have ever watched. I agree with the other two reviews: Armand Assante was horrible and the film was disjointed. There were some great moments in the film and some moments that just needed more to make them even adequate. Claire's romantic subplot didn't need to exist and was too neatly wrapped up to even be believable. Luke Perry's performance was adequate, but he handed over the reins (no pun intended) a little too easily. Not a single character showed any kind of introspection to get them from point A to point C, let alone hitting point B in the middle. The so-called twists went nowhere and people were too forgiving when the twists against them were discovered.

One thing I did not understand was the reluctance to put Fandango to stud. Even when you have an absolutely superior horse, putting him at limited stud to select mares is definitely a thing. Very few people protect their bloodlines for six or seven years. Perry's character would have been trying to find a way to limit Fandango's covers as much as possible, while bringing in the money that he needed.

Anyway, the horses were gorgeous. The competitions were interesting to watch. However, I did feel that the writer was going for a "Best in Show" vibe at the end, which didn't quite suit the rest of the movie. "A Fine Step" is a fine way to kill some time, preferably with a horse-crazy girl who wants to identify with a girl who is living her dream. It just could have been so much more.

Had potential-- but never developed.

[kfo9494 · 4/10 · 26 June 2020]

At the beginning of this movie it appeared to have a lot of potential to be an heart-warming and interesting story. But for some reason instead of being interesting it was more of a bunch of jumbled situations that seemed to lose the flow of the story. The forecast, at the beginning, seemed to be the love of a teenage girl for horses that was going to change her life and effect all the people around her. However, we have to go through a number of dull side plots which appeared to even leave the actor's unexcited.. There were a few good performances as Leonor Varela was believable in her part plus Luke Perry had his moments during the film. But most others seemed stiff and exhausted when delivering lines. In fact, I am not sure that Armand Assante was sober at anytime while the cameras rolled. Many times I could not even understand what he was saying. And then came the climax of the entire film only to be ruined by some foolish announcers trying to put some comedy into a situation that was high drama. This falls right at the feet of the writers and director. A situation that was actually embarrassing. If you can get past some of the dull moments the film does have a message. It was just too hard to find with all the wearisome situation.

Abysmal Plot, Beautiful Horses

[jennvilandre · 2/10 · 18 January 2022]

I'm a horse movie fanatic so decided to watch this since it looked interesting. I'm going to preface this review by saying there's still 30 minutes left to go in this movie, but it could have been wrapped up by now with all the weirdly wandering plot lines, and I really don't need to finish it to review it because I can't see the end being any better. The movie is almost 2 hours long and could have been wrapped up in 90 minutes or less. It's basically 2 daddy/daughter conflicts and an on-going family feud in a confusing plot, wrapped up with beautiful horses. The only unique thing about this movie is the use of Paso Finos and the glimpse into the Paso show world. This, however, is poorly presented at the beginning of the movie by cramming it into a scene of a farrier meeting the girl, Clair, where he deems it necessary to give her an encyclopedic description of the Paso Fino's gaits. The acting is less than mediocre, with mumbled lines and disingenuous performances, but my biggest problem with the movie was when both Clair and her father, neither of whom have ever ridden a horse before, jump on Pasos and ride off like experts! The father even tacks up his own horse, yet has never been around them previously. What?! Seriously, the only reason this got 2 stars was because I've never seen Paso Finos used in a movie before and it's nice seeing unique breeds being shown off.