When Calls the Heart is a story of faith, courage, perseverance and strength. Elizabeth Thatcher, a young, headstrong and wealthy woman, chooses to teach in the coal mining town of Coal Valley. She starts just after a major accident which takes the lives of many of the fathers who worked in the mine. Elizabeth is befriended by one of the widows and after a rocky start in the classroom comes to learn how to teach the students who are struggling with many emotions and fears. The owner of the mine begins to seek employees to replace the ones lost in the accident, but in the process sends letters to evict all the widows from their homes to make room for the new workers. Elizabeth and the wives look for ways to save the homes and also their roots as they sacrifice their lives to work in the mines Meanwhile, a Royal Canadian Mounted Police has been assigned to the town to "protect" young Miss Thatcher which he finds out in a rather awkward way. Jack and Elizabeth butt heads, but as the town's widows come together, Elizabeth takes action and is supported by Jack and they become good friends.
This was a great movie in showing how a community can work together to create a strong bond and unite for a common cause. I thought that Elizabeth showed great boldness in how she taught her students, stood up the to Jack and sacrificed her time and energy to help the widows in the town. She took on every task with confidence and grace. Even though she was not used to the type of living in a small and dusty town, she knew how to engage the families to make progress toward something that was important to them and became part of their community in the process. Elizabeth always had a positive attitude which spilled over to all whom she interacted with. And even though this movie was not anything like the book by the same name, I still think it was an excellent movie.
*I was given a complimentary copy of this DVD from Edify Media for the purpose of this review. All opinions are my own.*
