Takes itself way too seriously

Great Film overall

If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

A lot of perfectly good film show their cards early, establish a unique premise and let the audience explore a topic at a leisurely pace, without much in terms of surprise. this film is not one of those films.

I don't think the story itself was that remarkable, so they had little choice but to pad it out. Unfortunately, it drifted off into so much fiction, it left little but the main concept (boy stranded for 8 days) of the actual story.In response to the other reviewer who said the weather was warm there, it dropped to 2C (nearly freezing) at night, according to the CBC news account.http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2001/05/30/bcteen_010530.htmlI would like to have seen more of young man's struggles during this time. The bears and wildlife would have been an interesting element to add.

Really great movie; Good job CTV for making movies like this. Families need more movies they can watch together. This was perfect to watch with your teenagers...some real emotions were shown. I really didn't expect to watch the whole movie, but it really hooked me; I cried, laughed and was on the edge of my seat. It was very realistic, some great scenery of our West Coast. Loved the actors in it... Ryan McDonell especially, who played the older jerk of a brother, but had an emotional breakthrough in the end played his part so well. Would love to see him in a lead role soon! I would highly recommend this movie to anyone...I would love to see it again as well. I'll keep my eyes open for it.

This movie doesn't claim to be a true story; rather it claims it is "based on a true story". Given the number of details that have been changed, I would say "LOOSELY based on a true story" would be more accurate. I live in the Vancouver area, which is near Aldergrove where the Spring family lives. I also grew up in Quesnel, which was Joe Spring's initial destination, and roughly halfway to his final destination of Prince Rupert (which wasn't mentioned). As such, I took a special interest in the events as they unfolded at the time.The whole subplot involving the drug dealers was completely fabricated. So were all other encounters on the trip. They had him found on his return trip over 400km (250miles) from where he was actually found, when he actually went missing on the initial leg of his journey. The movie also implied that he was facing winter-conditions out in the wilderness. In fact, the events happened in late May, and while Canada is known for its winters, there would have been no snow on the ground, and the temperatures would not have gone below freezing. Seasonable daytime highs of 21C(70F) would be expected. Finally, while the true family dynamic can only be known by the Spring family, I suspect that the dysfunction was largely exaggerated by the writers.In reality, he left his home at 11pm after a late shift at work. The area he was found was roughly 500km(312miles) away, which would have put him there at around 4am depending on how fast he was driving. Having driven that stretch of highway hundreds of times, I know how dangerous it can be, with all its twists and turns and steep banks, if you are not alert, especially when it's dark. Most sections on this highway have been fitted with "wake-up" strips along the shoulders and median to help prevent this type of accident, but I don't believe they were in place at the time Joe Spring went missing.There were some points in the movie that did ring true, however. He did survive 8 days trapped in his car without food and water after veering off the road into the trees. The initial search and rescue operations were centered on areas far from where he was found. And, he was found by helicopter after the search and rescue operation was called off.The most remarkable fact to me, which would seem to have been ideal "movie material" that was left out was that when the police officers found him, they had to chase off some curious bears who were in the area.In short, the true story of Joe's will to survive and how his family never gave up hope was remarkable in itself. I do not believe the altered facts were necessary and (to me at least), made the movie less enjoyable.The following links contain news articles surrounding these events:http://www.langleyadvance.com/issues01/06101/top1.htmhttp://www.langleyadvance.com/issues01/06201/news/06201N4.html

When I was 18 I lived in a town called Parksville, on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada. I believe this movie is loosely based on an incident that occurred there with a young man who was on his way to a well known party location, Kaye Road gravel pit. He went missing on his way there when he drove his car off of an embankment. He did remain there for a week, but I can't recall how he was found, just that it was surprising he'd survived. I wonder if this is the same incident. Seems so ironic that something that occurred in such a small town would become a movie 16 years later. If anyone knows if this in fact the case, please let me know. I'm very interested to know.Thanks! Juliebean.