Thicker Than Water (2005 TV Movie) User Reviews

Sweet family drama

[Danele · 6/10 · 1 December 2005]

A career woman finds her roots in the country while finding out about her fathers hidden life.

This is a nice movie about family matters. Nothing upsetting, just your familiar Hallmark kind of TV movie.

Quite a nice movie for a relaxed evening in front of the TV. Don't expect to be totally captured though.

It is also nice to see the pictures from the country-side, and the movie makes a good advertisement for country life, to inspire us hard-working town dwellers.

A romantic touch finishes off the movie well.

Melissa Gilbert is an excellent choice for this kind of movies.

Just sweet.

There were never such devoted sisters

[bkoganbing · 6/10 · 5 April 2013]

Melissa Gilbert gets the shock of her life in Thicker Than Water after her father dies. She's a high powered attorney at one of Los Angeles's best white shoe law firms and just getting used to the idea that both of her parents are now deceased. Then the family friend Nan Martin drops an envelope on her with the news that her father had a wife before he married Mom. The first wife was a trick rider Rodeo Queen. As her father was a most conservative sort, that's something she can't figure.

She goes in search of wife one and finds a graveyard with another daughter mourning her passing. The daughter is Lindsay Wagner and the half sisters after a bit of getting used to bond quite well.

In fact a lawyer who is a sister of any kind comes in quite handy for Wagner who is having a dispute with her neighbor and landlord Granger Hines about water rights and the fact that Lindsay is caring for some wild horses still roaming the range. And there's romance for Gilbert in the person of veterinarian Brian Wimmer.

Thicker Than Water is a nice Hallmark Channel production with good roles for both Wagner and Gilbert. I'm sure that is one of the reasons they signed for this film. It's an easy to take film with people you will grow to care about.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, Ms. Lawyer comes looking for answers! This is a very worthwhile flick

[inkblot11 · 7/10 · 5 April 2013]

Natalie (Melissa Gilbert) has just lost her distinguished, judge father. But, hold on! In the will, there is secret information that the man never revealed to his daughter while he was alive. Before Natalie's mother, the learned gentleman had a brief, previous marriage to a rodeo trick rider. Nat is floored! By starting to dig, the beautiful attorney finds that the horsewoman lived on a ranch, not terribly far from Los Angeles. Arriving at this place, Natalie tells the folks there that she is a journalist, working on a story about the former star rider. She immediately learns that this grand dame is deceased, and that her daughter, Jess (Lindsay Wagner) now runs the place. There is also a very handsome ranch hand, Sam, who makes eyes at Nat and visa versa. Two more discoveries come forth. One, the old ranch, with its wild horses, has a great need of drinking water, for a previous source has run dry. Knowing this, a crooked neighbor wants to force Jess to sell her land. But, more importantly, its possible that Jess and Natalie are related. Will things resolve with rainbows for all? This is a very fine film, especially for those who adore romantic drama. Gilbert, Wagner, and the others do nice work fleshing out the movie's characters. Also, as one can imagine, the scenery is quite beautiful, as are the wild horses. While some of the flick's topics are very serious, there is also time for humor and romance. Therefore, if you are drawn to the former stars of Little House or The Bionic woman, or just love romance-on-the-range, this is the film for you.

A standard theme or two but still a relaxing movie

[Rosettes2 · 7/10 · 6 May 2022]

Hallmark movies tend to be a standard format of the successful city business woman comes to the country on some quest and finds love there. This movie is no different but it wraps into it a standard western theme where a trouble making robber baron wants the water and the land. As that it is a Hallmark movie, it has the tension but not the violence of the western. As I am a cowgirl, if adopted by the ranch, I found a lot of things I could identify with and items that made me comfortable as it was the kind of life I have now. One thing about the movie to me is that aside from Lindsay Wagner, I do not know the cast from their former performances so I had no expectation to "who they were before". "Meeting them for the first time", I had no doubt to who they were playing. A good movie to end the day with.

Good and Bad Movie

[imidaho2 · 7/10 · 27 April 2010]

I have watched this movie over and over and I love the story. There are some parts that I laugh at every time. It is a clean movie. No cussing, nudity or violence. Unfortunately, this movie is very disappointing due to bad editing and poor direction.

Brian Wimmer did an EXCELLENT job portraying Sam, the Vet. Mucho Kudos to Brian! He makes being a Vet look sexy! But the director could have pulled more out of Lindsay Wagner and Melissa Gilbert. Their characters were almost not believable. Lindy Newton did a wonderful job for such a young actress.

I would love to find the uncut version of this movie. I believe that a lot of the poor editing choices probably was due to the fact they had to cut to fit television time. But this picture would have been so much better full length.

Thicker Than Water- Your Blood Will Not Exactly Boil Over **1/2

[edwagreen · 5/10 · 22 May 2008]

Routine movie fanfare where Melissa Gilbert finds out that her late erudite judge father was previously wed to a rodeo queen. The latter let him go because she saw greatness in his future. If she felt like this, why did she marry him to begin with? Unbeknown to the future, he had a daughter with this woman. She is played by Lindsay Wagner.

When Gilbert goes to the ranch to investigate, she soon finds that Wagner is in dispute with the new owner of the range regarding water rights for her horses. In fact, the film begins with the guy shooting at the horses. I was wondering if this was another "They Shoot Horses, Don't they?" Unfortunately, the true nature of the conflict between them is never revealed. As Gilbert is an attorney, she soon threatens the guy with jail if he doesn't let the horses get their water.

Along the way, there is a budding romance between Gilbert and the town vet. Looks like the film is going to the dogs.

Excellent

[sleuth-5 · 9/10 · 15 October 2006]

For those of us who have walked in the shoes of marginalization or separation from blood kin due to parental decisions to keep secrets, this movie provided a warm and real option for closure. It was comforting, and helped me recognize that connecting to previously unknown relatives takes work, and requires honesty.

Lindsay Wagner portrayed a credible role of a firstborn separated from half of her birth family. Estranged from her father, she learned early in life to reach out with love towards others, adopting, so-to-speak, perfect strangers, providing them a safe sanctuary. Her other option was to be bitter, self-centered, and angry, but she chose to give, rather than take. Conversely, Melissa Gilbert begins by being angry and mistrusting.

These two characters actually portrayed the emotional schism that exists within children born unto such circumstances. Separating the juxtaposed emotions into two separate characters really helps the viewer, who may have experienced this dynamic, to sort out feelings and see potential character developments of each emotion. The fact that Gilbert's role evolved into a trusting, giving individual who reaches out to the lost and brings them into her heart demonstrated a resolution that people separated at birth might wish to follow. At least such a solution could bring peaceful closure to the wounds parents' decisions sometimes creates in the lives of their offspring.

I gave this a high rating because of the realistic solution to real-life emotional turmoil this movie brought. Thanks for airing it.

worst movie I have seen in years

[cranewms · 1/10 · 12 September 2007]

I rented this movie yesterday and can hardly express my disappointment in little Laura Ingalls for getting involved in something so poorly produced. I am not sure if it was horrible writing or bad directing or both but it leaves a viewer very disappointed in having wasted the time to watch this swill. It consisted of a weak naive story line, very poor lines, and relied solely on pretty scenery, and pretty people to sell it. Unfortunately this was not enough. You would be better off to rent a tape full of static than to waste your time on this crap. Lindsey Wagner also played a pretty pathetic part as a ranch owner who apparently works very hard doing nothing, anybody who has ever been near a ranch knows that this was obviously written by a young person from los Angeles and not someone with much knowledge of the world.

A Good Family Movie to Watch

[casemqueensu_1981 · 9/10 · 10 March 2010]

My wife and I have watched Thicker Than Water starring Melissa Gilbert several times and we enjoy the movie. It's got an interesting and rather unusual plot about two half sisters that find each other, each living in quite different spheres. One sister is a lawyer in LA and the other a rancher who honours her mother's memory by taking care of mustangs. Both women share a father who led a secretive past.

One thing we like about this movie is that it is clean. There isn't one cuss word in it.

The scenery is exceptionally beautiful.

It is a touching movie which one discovers as the movie unfolds.

We would highly recommend it for family viewing.

If chicken noodle soup were a movie 10/10

[corallwaves · 10/10 · 16 January 2024]

My go to cozy movie!! Its not as stereotypical as most Hallmark movies. That being said of course theres some slightly cheesey parts. Still,if you have a calm evening to snuggle up and watch a comforting movie this is the one to watch. Or of you are sick. Anytime I amd sick,this is the movie I watch. So snuggle up,as you watch Natalie Travers (played by Melissa Gilbert) discover her Fathers hidden past, and find in it, a whole new future for herself. You'll either laugh at or fall in love with all of the characters,but either way you're going to enjoy it. If you ever grew up watching Feature Films For Families you'll know what I mean. Cheesey,but homey,brings you back to your childhood a little bit with the wholesome atmosphere and themes.