The defence The Sentimental Softie
“Sincerity is not manipulation.”
The film risks embarrassment to make emotion communal, and that openness is harder than fashionable detachment.
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Where the Red Fern Grows
Drama · Family · 1974
Billy Coleman works hard and saves his earnings for two years to achieve his dream of buying two red-bone coonhound pups. He develops a new trust in life as he faces overwhelming challenges in adventure and tragedy roaming the river bottoms of Cherokee country with his dogs, Old Dan and Little Ann.
Movie details
Where the Red Fern Grows
“Glory and victory were theirs, but sadness waited too! And close by was the strange and wonderful power that's only found...”
1974 Drama · Family 1h 37m
Critical arithmetic
One number, for now.
Scores change. Arguments endure.
TMDB
6.9 / 10
Community rating
Billy Coleman works hard and saves his earnings for two years to achieve his dream of buying two red-bone coonhound pups. He develops a new trust in life as he faces overwhelming challenges in adventure and tragedy roaming the river bottoms of Cherokee country with his dogs, Old Dan and Little Ann.
CriticWise case file
What this film says about your taste.
Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.
The archetype split
Who fights over Where the Red Fern Grows?
For the defence
The Sentimental Softie
“You came to feel something, and you will.”
Read their case For the prosecution
The Cool Ironist
“Feeling things is a little embarrassing.”
Read their objectionThe split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.
Taste neighbourhood
Nearby on the taste map.
TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.
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Hachi: A Dog's Tale
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I Believe
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A 9 year old boy experiences God's power in a supernatural way.
Where the Red Fern Grows
Drama · 2003
Set in the Ozark Mountains during the Great Depression, Billy Coleman works hard and saves his earnings for 2 years to achieve his dream of buying two coonhound pups. He develops a new trust in God as he faces overwhelming challenges in adventure and tragedy roaming the river bottoms of Cherokee country with "Old Dan" and "Little Ann."
TalhotBlond
Drama · 2012
Thomas Montgomery, a married father of two young daughters, gets seduced by the world of online gambling and chat rooms where a virtual romance and sexual obsession ultimately leads to the murder of an innocent man.
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Names above the title
The people responsible.
Cast & crew
Directed by
Norman Tokar
Written by
Douglas C. Stewart · Eleanor Lamb
Stewart Petersen
Billy Colman
James Whitmore
Grandpa
Beverly Garland
Mother
Jack Ging
Father
Lonny Chapman
Sheriff
J
Jill Clark
Alice
J
Jeanna Wilson
Sara
Court is in session
Put Where the Red Fern Grows on trial.
Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.
The prosecution The Cool Ironist
“The strings are showing.”
Every cue tells you exactly what to feel and when, leaving sentiment to do the work character should have done.