Road Less Traveled (2017 TV Movie) User Reviews

It gets better

[Saw-it-on-Tubi · 5/10 · 30 April 2019]

I really was not a fan of the beginning of this movie. In fact, I was ready to write a whole thing about a side character having a much better love story than the protagonist. And although that might still be the case, the story went in a different direction than I guessed, so I have to give the movie some props for that. Something happens and the characters are all more likable in the last 20 minutes.

Though I still think too much time was dedicated to Babs's wine company.

A Surprise Movie

[dante-69329 · 7/10 · 20 December 2017]

I rented this for my wife. She's into the romantic genre and I liked the cover intro of the story. As for myself, I've been expecting this showing to be the usual formulaic boy meets girl, girl has trouble deciding, conflict evolves, emotions roil among parties, parties resolve situation---film credits run. Not so. This was a step above the rest. The development of the characters, the swing country music, the good songs and lyrics made this cynic into a believer, But I am not averse to enjoying country music, or the pastoral scenes of a bucolic way of life. Those were to my preferences and very appropriate for the plot. It was the portrayal of the reality within the story and the people in it. It had depth and talent that I never expected from a cast that I'm not familiar with, that went beyond the banal and trite. It was a good evening's viewing.

I wanted to like it

[Didiwags · 5/10 · 8 December 2021]

Spoiler!!!!

I always love movies when women come back to their hometown and fall back in love with their 1st love. Unfortunately this still had her be with her snobby boyfriend from the city who only was there to make money off of her songwriting. Yeah he may have loved her but he was too concerned about her songs. Well her first love actually cared about her.

Won't watch again!!

music is ok, but the rest ???

[linda-plant2 · 23 January 2019]

These boy meets girl films can be a hit or miss, and the acting on this one is definitely a miss. My amateur dramatic (I think in the US its called 'stock rep') club could do better.

Laura Alaina

[mitchellrharl · 6/10 · 25 January 2021]

She cannot act pretty scenery but she is so disrespectful to her grandma

When Ya Need a Little Happy in Your Life

[kbcreekmore · 7/10 · 23 March 2021]

Some people are criticizing the acting and storyline. Are the actors a-listers? No. Is the story line predictable? For the most part. But it made me smile and left me feeling happy. Isn't that really what you want from a chick flick? Lauren Alaina is a beautiful girl with a beautiful voice. And I think they did a great job creating chemistry on screen. I enjoyed it and hope you do too!

It's not that bad

[Tak005 · 4/10 · 5 November 2018]

It's a typical romance genre movie. Hard times that work out in the end. It's more like something you'd watch on TV when you don't feel like something heavy. The story is not that bad and the acting is passable. Except the main star, Lauren Alaina, can obviously sing, but her talents don't transpose well across to acting.

Decent little flik but...

[sherilcarey · 6/10 · 5 May 2020]

This was good enough for me but still slightly disappointing. Its not the formula sappy romance it seemed to be becoming through the first half of the movie. (I like a good, sappy, low-budget romance. That would have been ok with me.) It wasn't uplifting or enlightening. (And I do love a story that's truly clean and innocent and shows good, wholesome people getting through the mess of life with their faith intact and making the difference. Not one character in this movie had even a single moment of belief in anything at all.) It is not a deeply moving slice of life. So I guess it was a little odd for me for not quite pulling off anything particulatly well. When I got to the end I felt good about certain things about it but I still also found myself critiquing in my head about why and how some of it wasn't quite right instead of just enjoying/experiencing the end of the movie.

The characters are a bit shallow and spoiled seeming rather than well developed or good or great in any way. Their drama isn't very developed but then if the main characters feel it then her major coping in life comes from getting drunk. For me the drinking focus came off as boring and stupid. I agree with the reviewer that said they get to be more likable by the end. But through a good bit of the movie they are pretty meh with just small glimpses into the possibility that they could have been better. At least the lead actress has a nice smile to relieve the meh occasionally. I got the feeling that she was one of the cast members who could have been better than this movie made her look or maybe will be better later in her career.

So Bad, And Worse...

[cruzn-99903 · 1/10 · 19 May 2019]

Enough with trying to explain, and then re-explain, that people have different expressions, colloquialisms and accents in the South, just in case the audience may not get it. We get it! How about a little respect for the South, and the intelligence of viewers? The scenery is nice, both geographical and human, as long as the volume is kept on mute. This movie is truly an embarrassment. It makes Sweet Home Alabama seem like a masterpiece.

Well worth the watch

[jewelch · 6/10 · 2 January 2021]

I really enjoyed the movie! It did start out a little slow, but it picked up soon after. I laughed a good bit. Lauren Alaina has a beautiful voice. I absolutely loved hearing her sing "Holding the Other" while Ray played guitar. She put so much emotion into it. this one is well worth watching. James Welch Henderson, Arkansas 01/02/2021

Ouch

[nananow · 3/10 · 29 June 2018]

Worst acting i have ever seen. Apparently they were unable to turn off the drink act.

Unnecessary cringe at the beginning but then it gets really good.

[TheCheeseMistress · 8/10 · 10 October 2020]

I have to say it starts off really bad, the only thing we see in the first third of the movie is three women with a drinking problem. Her two friends are supposedly highly achieving professionals and one wonders how did they manage to get where they are while drinking the way they do.

(Don't worry, no spoilers) Friend nº1's date was ridiculously cringy and unrealistic, no man would ever behave like that and the whole scene could have been skipped altogether. Its only purpose was to justify her decision to join the others in their trip, but why did they need to dedicate so much time to explain why a secondary character decides to go on a trip with the protagonist? She's a secondary character, her entire existence is meant to be near the protagonist so we can know things about her through their dialogs, of course she's going with them! They had already planned the wine tasting trip to Napa Valley anyway so they didn't need to explain anything.

And her fiancé is definitely not husband material, at first I assumed he was the mandatory gay best friend.. it makes it really hard to get involved in their story and see them as a couple when he's so ridiculously feminine.

But despite those and a few other similar details, after the initial setup it evolves into the sappy romance TV movie you were expecting, with all the usual clichés and terrible acting but with a twist of a realistic and reasonable ending.

Poor ending

[wang-96851 · 1/10 · 17 September 2021]

Disappointed with ending after watching whole movie!!!

Really Disappointing Ending

[anesbitt-96277 · 2/10 · 15 February 2022]

WARNING: SPOILER ALERT!!!

It had a very slow start up! In the beginning scenes where the protagonist is in the kitchen with her fiancé, I really thought at first he was the gay best friend/roommate. He was far from being the right choice for that character! There was no chemistry between them and they just looked like an odd pair. Fast forwarding to the friend who was on a date-gone-wrong, that scene wasn't even necessary because it was already stated they had planned a trip together at Napa Valley. Therefore, it was already assumed that all the friends were going on the trip.

The scenery was pleasant, but not Tennessee by any means. Ohio maybe lol, but not Tennessee. I didn't like that they spent so much time and energy on the drunk girl scenes. It kinda of took away from the entire point of the movie. The ending was the worst of the worst though!

So, I was extremely disappointed by the ending. It was going so well, and I thought when she decided to go on with the wedding it would show her having "cold feet" and being uncertain. Then I REALLY thought that her ex, Ray was going to swoop in and save the day by "objecting" during the ceremony. I wanted to see this grown man walk down the isle while telling her he has loved her since the moment they laid eyes on one another at 6 years old, that he's missed her and never got over her, how he never dated anyone all those years because he couldn't get over her. Then, walk up, grab her hands and tell her he didn't want to live another minute without her. Fiancé gets mad and storms off, leaving them there at the alter. Then deciding there's no point in wasting a good cake and just get married right then and there, and then they live happily ever after in their small hometown. But that didn't happen! She married the fiancé and it was the weakest ending that did not leave me with any "feel-good feelings" whatsoever. The best part about this entire movie was the chemistry between Charlotte and Ray! They truly belonged together! Her fiancé was only concerned about her churning out another hit song and not about her happiness. I give this movie two thumbs DOWN.

Disappointing ending

[geegee-82976 · 2/10 · 19 September 2020]

It could have been better. The lead up to a huge let down with no feel good moment at the end. It was odd and at times awkward . Writers dropped the ball on this one.

Pretty good soundtrack

[r96sk · 5/10 · 10 April 2020]

Not a great film at all, pretty good soundtrack though.

'Road Less Traveled' is led by singer/songwriter Lauren Alaina in her film debut. It entails her portraying Charlotte who is in need of new inspiration for her music career, visiting her hometown in order to do so whilst concurrently planning for her wedding.

It's a weak storyline, filled with cringeworthy clichés and predictable plot points. Alaina's acting isn't anything of note, same goes for her co-stars Carine Rice and Ashton DeGroot, among others. You can tell Alaina's talent lies with her music, which is by far the best part of this production.

Better than others let on

[bameiboo · 8/10 · 18 February 2021]

I think The male actors in this did a great job all likable and lovable. The Charlene tilton character babs is the low point. But Grandma is pretty mean. The supporting actresses at first are nasty but soften with their country experience. The lead actress is beautiful, acts better than other people are saying and can sing heart-wrenchingly good. She had great chemistry with the fiance and the ex-boyfriend.

Story not believable or one to recommend. Thumbs down.

[druatlax · 1/10 · 30 June 2021]

The scenery. Is beautiful.

The acting by all the secondary characters led by Donny Boaz, makes each and every one believable and complete But.....There is a very wide gap between the seeming intent of the story line and the final resolution Very, very disappointed..... story itself is the problem... set-up and back story done one way , then forgotten in the rush to a "what the?" fast finish...

Really bad start. Great singing

[Jackbv123 · 4/10 · 5 November 2022]

I hate characters like Kathleen. Arrogant and entitled. She thinks she can treat people like dirt. The situation with her boyfriend is ridiculous (and his reaction to the drink in his face is overdone). I suppose both those sequences might be funny for some people. Stupid stuff continues for a while. And then suddenly Kathleen's personality does a 180.

I saw a comment about too much time spent on Bab's winery. For me, too much time is spent on alcohol and being drunk in general. Heavy drinking almost seems like the main story line. At least the girls have the sense not to drive a car drunk, but they are still pretty stupid. And now Charlotte is pretty hard to like. A good 40 minutes or more into a 90 minute movie and there is nothing to like.

It's too bad there wasn't a story centering on Laila. She's actually appealing.

Acting is fair to poor. Dialogue is worse. There was at least one surprise to me in the story.

Lauren Alaina does a nice full length song performed on stage a little past half way although it makes no sense why Charlotte is suddenly so friendly with Ray after all the hatred to that point. But from that point the movie is almost enjoyable. Credits at the end attribute 6 songs to Alaina on and off camera. (Strange that IMDb does not credit any.) If you like Country music, it is probably worth sticking with this movie.

What a waste of time.

[goetzalli · 4/10 · 10 January 2023]

I actually liked this movie somewhere in the middle. The beginning was slow, with a whole lot of drinking and giggling that leaves you wondering if the film is ever going to get to a point. Then it picks up for once with the addition of Ray. Probably the best actor in the show, and definitely had the best chemistry with our lead thus far. But then by the end does she even end up with this sweet boy from her past who gave her up for HER sake?! No. She stays with the jerk who only cares about his career. Whoever wrote this must have been a man. And a man who does not understand women or what they like in romance movies either.

Horrid acting, but cute story

[diana_kelley69 · 4/10 · 28 March 2021]

Horrid acting by the three girls, but the story was cute. Probably the worst acting I've seen in a movie.

A road of plot holes

[hallmarkmov · 5/10 · 10 March 2022]

After watching Lauren's latest hallmark movie, I hoped to like this movie but it was filled with incomplete storylines. Were we supposed to want the couple to end up together? How did she hurt her ex? What did flying have to do with her mom dying? Why doesn't the grandma want to be called grandma? Why didn't she want her to have the wedding dress? Was none of her family invited to this wedding? Why did the fiancé forgive her so fast? She laughed instantly and didn't even seem upset when he asked for his ring back. I was so confused! It was as if the joke was on the audience and that this whole thing didn't matter. The songs were good but boy they are long! There was a lot of montage moments and not enough meaningful dialogue. I didn't enjoy the movie and was disappointed.