Loved the look of the movie, beautiful shots, wonderful characters, actors seemed fine. I'm not much of a horse person, so with me that doesn't carry the movie. Movie was the right length, not too long. The script was just so poorly written, I'd find myself wincing at the dialog. Character names were strange also (Gelsey, Moondance?), as if the author was "putting on airs". The makeup on the young actress bothered me also. First, she's a child and second, she's working in a stable and riding a horse. Those aren't activities where someone would normally be so made up and certainly not a child. If you're looking for a family movie with an interesting story (based on a true story), maybe about second chances, then this would be a good pick.

It's the start of summer. Moondance Alexander (Kay Panabaker) is the school outcast whose yearbook nobody wants to sign. She talks to her father's grave. Her eccentric artist mother Gelsey (Lori Loughlin) doesn't really understand. Then she finds a horse by the side of the road and names him Checkers. The horse is returned to Tumbleweed Stables and the grumpy Dante Longpre (Don Johnson). The horse is actually named Tinkerbell. Moondance exchanges work for riding the horse. All the girls are mean but popular Josh might just like her especially when Josh's dad starts dating Moondance's mom. Moondance thinks Checkers might be a good jumper and enters her into the Bow Valley Classic against all the mean girls.This is a super sweet unsurprising cliché-filled family movie. I don't necessarily think there's anything wrong with that as long as it's done well. Don Johnson has the grumpy weary guy well in hand. Lori Loughlin could have been more flaky. At least she doesn't really fit the part. It's the super cute Kay Panabaker that makes this work. She's all hyper energy and willful joy. She is spunky enough to fill the whole movie with her energy. She is also a good enough actress to do the emotional moments too.

"Saddle Club" meets "Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen" and "Bratz", as the prettiest friendless teenage girl in cinema history goes up against her "Queen Bee" nemesis in a local equestrian competition. Throw in a little "Pollyanna" here for good measure as the friendless girl manages to inspire the adults in her town to lead better lives. Kay Panabaker plays the friendless girl (Moondance Alexander), and Kay is so pretty she makes figure skater turned aspiring actress Sasha Cohen look rather plain by comparison. And Kay is a polished enough actress with enough effortless charm to almost make this film work. Unfortunately she is saddled (pun intended) with one of the worst written scripts you are likely to ever encounter. The best scenes are those where Panabaker is alone on the screen and the worst are those involving her teenage rivals-the dialog given to these inexperienced cast members is almost surreal in its staggering lameness. The film is at least one back-story too many as there just isn't time to adequately cover Moondance coping with her father's death, reconciling her mother's new romantic interest, getting flirty with the son of her mother's boyfriend, saving stable owner Donte (Don Johnson) from a wasted life of alcohol abuse, turning her horse Checkers into a competitive jumper, and giving Roscoe P. Coltraine (James Best) a few moments of mild comic relief. "Moondance Alexander's" target audience of preteen girls and Sasha Cohen fans wasn't enough for it to get a widespread theatrical release but it is available as a direct-to-DVD product. There is nothing original or exciting here but it is a pleasant enough family film. And the dare to be different theme is handled quite nicely. Then again, what do I know? I'm only a child.

As movies go this one lacks in several areas, especially dialog and acting, which is sometimes amateurish. But you can't find fault with the family story, revolving around a young teen girl who is different, including her first name "Moondance." Kay Panabaker is Moondance. Her dad died not long ago but she still had her artist mom Gelsey, played well by 40-something Lori Loughlin. By her own admission, Moondance has few, if any, friends because fellow students make fun of her name and the way she dresses. The movie starts on the last day of school as summer break begins.She has a small job, using her bicycle to make small package deliveries in the rural area surrounding her home (filmed in the Canadian Rockies and surrounding areas). One day, riding along a dirt road, a Pinto horse appears in front of her, evidently jumping the fence. We later find out this is a habit of the Pinto, whom she names "Checkers", and this later comes in handy in a jumping competition.As it turns out the horse is not lost, but is owned by Don Johnson as Dante, a man of gruff demeanor and few words. We later find out he had been a horse trainer but something happened and he had quit. Moondance doesn't want to be separated from Checkers, so she bargains to work free, starting at 6:30AM each day, cleaning stalls, etc and in return she gets to ride Checkers.It is hard to figure why skater Sasha Cohen has a role, except it seems she has acting aspirations. Here she is Fiona Hughes, a nasty and self-centered girl who won the Junior jumping championship last year, and who takes every opportunity to try and put Moondance down. There is no subtlety to her acting.Overall a good family film, with a good message, and no bad language, no sex, no violence. We need more movies with those characteristics.SPOILERS: Dante agrees to help Moondance and Checkers get ready for the yearly jumping competition. But he warns her not to get her hopes up. But they do well, have a flawless ride, and end up co-champions with the mean Fiona. Proving that "different" can be very good under the right conditions.