moewadle I bought this film as one of ten in a two-DVD set at a Wal-Mart dump bin for $5. Well, you get what you pay for. That, technically, made it 50 cents per movie but I bought the set for this one because the others were westerns you always see on real cheap DVDs. Anyway, this was made in 1992 and I was bitterly disappointed when the story ended very abruptly with no resolution, whatsoever, to the mystery created in the story or the finding of the bad-guy, etc. It just ended....well, I found out rapidly why, that as I had guessed, this was a pilot for a TV series and the series, I am sure, was supposed to eventually resolve all the unresolved in the pilot. Imagine how cheated I felt and how you will feel if you do buy this and watch it. DON'T WASTE YOUR MONEY!! I might also add that the story is no where enjoyable enough otherwise to make up for the ending which cheats the viewer.

wes-connors While waiting for the hangman's noose, wizened outlaw Daniel Baldwin (as Ned Blessing) writes "The True Story of My Life" while narrating. We flashback to his boyhood (played by Sean Baca) traveling from Texas to California with noble father Chris Cooper (as Anthony). They meet straggly cutthroat Miguel Sandoval (as Bruto) and our hero is kidnapped and made a slavery cook "flea" after calling his new master a "fat monkey." We learn how Mr. Sandoval acquires the nickname "Half-Tongue" and become acquainted with pretty Taylor Fry (as Jilly Blue)... Almost 20 years later, Mr. Baldwin meets her as a adult actress Julia Campbell. Through the years, a silver lining is heavily-accented mentor Luis Avalos (as Crecencio). He wisely says, "Everybody's got to be somewhere," and cooks a stew which was hard to sit through, let alone swallow. This TV movie is structurally very confusing due to the framing sequences and, frankly, the understandable revenge plot meanders to a halt.** Ned Blessing: The True Story of My Life (4/14/92) Peter Werner ~ Daniel Baldwin, Luis Avalos, Chris Cooper, Sean Baca

Edmund_Dantes I liked the movie. I was enjoying it when it suddenly and inexplicably ended! Looking back, I have the impression that it is a two hour pilot for a TV series, not a movie. The length is about right and there are so many unfinished story lines, like: Does Ned Blessing evade the hangman? Does he get back with Jilly Blue? Does Jilly Blue detect the double dealing of the count? Does Ned Blessing avenge Anthony Blessing's (his father's) murder? I didn't really understand how Tors Buckner became Ned Blessing's enemy, but that is another unfinished part of the story. If Tors Buckner was his mother's second husband, who abused Ned Blessing, why didn't Ned recognize him? I understand that Tors Buckner might not have recognized Ned Blessing as an adult. I also found that without subtitles, it was really hard to understand Bruto Half Tongue (what a name!) after he bit his tongue off. The low score is because of the unfinished aspect, otherwise I would have given it an 8.

rsoonsa This is an augmented television pilot, not advertised as being so, with an abrupt ending distressing to a viewer who might be so unfortunate as to still be watching a production insulting to any with a modicum of intelligence, due to a storyline that makes no pretense at logic, rather instead stringing together a structure of episodes each more foolish than that preceding, with essentially no sense of continuity. It would seem that the primary purpose of this affair is to demonstrate the costuming talents of Michael Boyd, whose work is often very effective, but here only grotesque, as surely never were denizens of the Old West so brightly raimented in such an array of heterogeneous colours, with all garments seemingly impervious to even a scantling of soil. Director Peter Werner ("We Were The Mulvaneys") and scriptor William Witliff ("Country"; "Barbarosa") are accomplished craftsmen and it is difficult to accept this clichéd and terminally stupid composition as handiwork from either, a possible explanation being preparation and production interference for what purportedly became a popular television series based upon the lead character from this film, Ned Blessing (Stephen Baldwin). There is innovative camerawork, crisp editing, and some fine players earning credit for their skill at delivering their lines with straight face, but the plot provides nothing in the way of character development or plausible motivation, yet offers perhaps the most protracted and cartoonish scene of meaningless violence ever shot.