Montana Sky opens with the death of the family patriarch, a man named Mercy who like Ben Cartwright fathered three children legitimately, except in his case it was daughters instead of sons. But a role model like Lorne Greene this guy wasn't. One daughter Ashley Williams stayed home and learned the ranch business. The other two were from trophy wives, Charlotte Ross and Laura Mennell. Ross is a screenwriter and Mennell is hoping to escape from a batterer whom she married.For the zillionth time an eccentric will is the thing the plot turns on. The estate after a couple of cash bequests is worth 24 million dollars and the half sisters who don't know each other have to live and work the ranch for a year for any of them to inherit any of it. Eight million dollars is a mighty powerful argument to induce the sisters especially Ross to stay and make a go of it. Poor Mennell just wants to find refuge.There's also someone slaughtering animals in a particularly sadistic way on the place. It could be Mennell's ex-husband Scott Heindl or maybe someone else also has a grudge. I have to say that the three women had some nice chemistry between them or otherwise Montana Sky would not have worked. The vast western vistas are really something, better than the mostly studio based photography on Bonanza. Ross especially impressed me as she essayed a character who saw some considerable growth in character over the course of the story.That's worth seeing Montana Sky in and of itself.

I just wanted to say that I thought this movie was pretty good. I am from Montana only about 2 hours from Bozeman. It seems that the movie was in the Bozeman area, but I have never heard of Monroe County and I have yet to find a Monroe County anywhere in Montana. I love to watch movies where they take place in Montana and this one was so close to home and then I find out that the area facts were not straight...it was a bummer.I read some other comments about how the ranch was not a realistic Montana Ranch and for the average ranch of course its not, but there are a few ranched in Montana that are big and luxurious like the one in the movie. And yes its true Montana people think that Californian's have no business being in Montana, and it also did not surprise me that the sheriff ended up wanting to date the Hollywood lady, but I agree the way it went about wasn't very smooth.As for Willow and Ben I think it was...I thought they had a funny relationship and it made perfect sense to me. I didn't understand why Lilly never got any chores unless it was because Willow felt sorry for her because of the bruises.

Let's let John know he should cut his hair and play only cowboy parts. This wasn't his best performance, but he does look good on a horse and has a great sexy smile. He seemed kinda uptight, but don't think he has played a cowboy part enough. I thought the women played their parts well, but was disappointed with Nate - not the right person for that part. Adam did great and I thought he was the perfect person for his part. Think the movie would have had a much higher rating if it had been a mini-series, so they could tell the whole story. No, the movie wasn't the same as the great book, but it was OK. Why can't they make some GREAT true to life - westerns anymore??

I thought this movie was excellent. John Corbett is always excellent. I thought they should have picked someone a little older for his love interest but the actress playing the lead role as the cowgirl daughter did a great job in the role. I wish John Corbett would do more lead roles. He is one of the sexiest actors around but I don't think he gets enough credit. The location picked for filming was a beautiful area. I think this is a movie I could see more than once and still want to see it again. Nora Roberts is one of my favorite authors and I can't wait for Blue Smoke to be aired next week. Angels Fall was a fantastic movie also and I hope to see it again.